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LIBR ARYOF CONG RESS 

ChapZEufCopyright No.^^' 



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-T334- 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



FOREIGN MISSIONS 



OF THE 



PROTESTANT 
CHURCHES . . 



I 

STEPHEN L. BALDWIN, D.D. 




NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS 
CINCINNATI: JENNINGS & PYE 



4080 

TWO COPlfc.^ ..cotWED, 

Library of Congret* 
Office of the 

M ] 1 1900 

RtfUttr of Copyrlfkt* 

97-tOy 3, /fat) 

SfcCOND COPY. £^0° 

6*888 . ^ ' ^*A 

Copyright by >< 

EATON & MAINS, 
1900. 



Eaton & Mains Press, 
150 Fifth Avenue, New York. 



r 



PREFACE 



NO claim to striking originality is made for 
this volume, and it contains no profound 
philosophizing in regard to foreign missionary 
work. Its object is to present some of the prin- 
ciples which underlie the missionary work of 
Protestantism, to discriminate between concep- 
tions of missions and missionary work that are 
true and those that are false, to consider the call 
and the qualifications of missionaries, briefly to 
treat of some of the methods by which the mis- 
sionary work of the churches is managed from 
the home side and some that are employed in the 
work on the various fields, and to give brief out- 
line summaries of the work of the numerous soci- 
eties engaged in it but not to attempt at any 
length a detailed history of the work — which 
would require a much larger volume. Excellent 
works having such an object in view are already 
provided, and yet there may be room for one 
which will bring into as condensed form as possi- 
ble a history of the work of Protestant missions 
generally. 

3 



Preface 

A presentation is made of the different classes 
of fields occupied and of the general progress 
therein, and statistical tables are added to give a 
summarized view of some important items con- 
nected with the work of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church as well as of the whole Protestant mis- 
sionary work. 

Some of the books specially consulted were the 
Cyclopedia of Missions, edited by Dr. Edwin M. 
Bliss and published by Funk & Wagnalls, New 
York ; Smith's Short History of Christian Missions, 
published by T. &. T. Clark, Edinburgh, together 
with various pamphlets and reports by different 
missionary societies. Where extended quota- 
tions are made it has been the purpose to give 
full credit to the authors. 

It is hoped that the volume will be of use to 
students for the ministry, to those contemplating 
or who ought to be contemplating foreign mis- 
sionary work, to all interested in the missionary 
cause, and that it may in its humble way further 
the advance of the kingdom of Christ in the earth 
by helping to increase the desire and the deter- 
mination to fully obey the Saviour's command 
and as speedily as possible secure the preaching 
of the gospel, attended with its saving power, to 
all the inhabitants of the world. 

Stephen L. Baldwin. 

New York, N. Y. 

4 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I — Nature and Scope of Christian Missions 7 

II — False and True Conceptions of Missions 

and Missionary Work . . . .24 

III — The Call and Qualifications of Mis- 
sionaries ...... 41 

IV — Home Organization and Methods . . 58 

V — Methods and Administration in the 

Foreign Field . . . . .64 

VI — Origin and Growth of Protestant For- 
eign Missions ..... 81 

VII — Formation of British Missionary So- 
cieties 88 

Baptist Missionary Society — Society for the Propaga- 
tion of the Gospel — London Missionary Society — Church 
Missionary Society — Wesleyan Missionary Society — Eng- 
lish Presbyterian Society — Scotch Presbyterian Society — 
Methodist New Connexion Missionary Society— Irish 
Presbyterian Foreign Missions — Foreign Missions of the 
Welsh Calvinistic Presbyterian Church — Primitive Meth- 
odist Missionary Society — South American Missionary 
Society — Friends' Foreign Missionary Association — North 
African Mission — Congo Balolo Mission — United Meth- 
odist Free Churches Missionary Society — Universities' 
Mission to Central Africa — British and Foreign Bible 
Society — Free Church of Scotland — United Presbyterian 
Church — China Inland Mission — Other Societies in Great 
Britain. 

5 



Contents 

CHAPTER PAGE 

VIII — Continental Missionary Societies . .129 

Basle Missionary Society — Berlin Missionary Society — 
Foreign Missions of the Moravians — Rhenish Mission 
Society — North German Missionary Society — Gossner 
Missionary Society — Leipzig Missionary Society — Her- 
nannsburg Missionary Society — Schleswig-Holstein 
Missionary Society — Other German Societies — Danish 
Missionary Society — Norwegian Mission Society — Swe- 
dish Missions — Finland Missionary Society — Missionary 
Societies in Holland — Paris Evangelical Society — Free 
Churches of Switzerland. 

IX — American Missionary Societies . . 146 

American Board — American Baptist Missionary Union 
— Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church — 
Reformed (Dutch) Board of Missions — Reformed (Ger- 
man) Board — Presbyterian Board — Southern Presbyterian 
Board — United Presbyterian Board — Cumberland Presby- 
terian Board — Reformed Presbyterian Boards — Southern 
Baptist Board — Freewill Baptist Society — Board of Mis- 
sions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South — 
Protestant Episcopal Missionary Society — American Bible 
Society — Other Societies of the United States. 

Canadian Foreign Mission Societies . . .206 

Congregationalists — Methodist Church of Canada — 
Presbyterian Church of Canada — Church of England in 
Canada — Baptists of Canada. 

X — Women's Foreign Missionary Societies . 209 

XI — Mission Fields of the World . . . 214 

XII — Progress at Home and Abroad . . 240 

XIII — The Outlook 248 

XIV — Statistics 254 



FOREIGN MISSIONS 

OF THE 

PROTESTANT CHURCHES 



CHAPTER I 
Nature and Scope of Christian Missions 

The root idea of the word "missions" is that 
of sending. It comprehends the act of sending, the 
state of being sent, and the persons sent. The term 
"Christian Missions" includes the act of sending 
persons to preach the gospel of Christ, the persons 
thus sent, and also their operations. 

Missions imply an authority sending, as well as 
persons sent, objects to be accomplished, and means 
to be used. For example, the United States sends 
a mission to Great Britain. The authority sending 
is the Government, representing the people of the 
United States. The person sent is a trusted citizen 
of the commonwealth, who is made for this pur- 
pose the representative of the Government and the 
nation. The object to be accomplished is the nego- 
tiation of a treaty to secure certain rights and priv- 
ileges. The means to be used are argument, per- 
suasion, and the concession of certain rights and 
privileges in return for those to be secured. 

7 



Foreign Missions of the 

The authority in Christian Missions is the Lord 
Jesus Christ. He is the Head of the kingdom 
whose interests these missions are intended to pro- 
mote. When he instituted them he affirmed: "All 
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth;" 
or, as the Revised Version renders it, "All authority 
hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth." 
Paul desired the Ephesian Christians to know 
"what is the exceeding greatness of his power to 
us-ward who believe, according to the working of 
his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, 
when he raised him from the dead, and set him at 
his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above 
all principality, and power, and might, and domin- 
ion, and every name that is named, not only in this 
world, but also in that which is to come; and hath 
put all things under his feet, and gave him to be 
the head over all things to the church, which is his 
body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all." 
Eph. i, 19-23. 

The persons commissioned are, in a general sense, 

all disciples. "The Spirit and the bride say, Come; 

and let him that heareth say, Come." Every one 

who has heard the Master's voice is delegated to 

make known the gracious invitation of divine 

mercy. So we read in the very earliest history of 

the Christian Church, when the disciples were 

widely scattered by cruel persecution, "Therefore 

they that were scattered abroad went every where 

preaching the word." 

8 



Protestant Churches 

In this sense every disciple is an ambassador of 
Christ to his fellow men, but in a more special sense 
the ministry is set apart for this work. The old 
queries of the great Apostle to the Gentiles have 
lost none of their force or pertinency: "How shall 
they believe in him of whom they have not heard? 
and how shall they hear without a preacher? and 
how shall they preach except they be sent?" The 
sinful race must be brought to trust in Him who 
gave himself for them ; but in order to trust in him 
it is necessary that they should know him, and be- 
come acquainted with the blessing he has to bestow 
and the terms he has to offer. That they may come 
to this knowledge it is necessary that the proclama- 
tion of this divine Saviour and the terms of his 
mercy be clearly and definitely made universally 
known. That this may be authoritatively done there 
must be persons duly authorized and regularly com- 
missioned to go forth and make them known. So, 
from the beginning, chosen men, called of God, 
have been solemnly set apart to this work; conse- 
crating their lives to this glorious service, a work 

that indeed 

" might fill an angel's heart, 
And filled a Saviour's hands." 

This is not the place to discuss the call and qual- 
ifications of the Christian ministry. It is only re- 
ferred to here as necessary to the complete view of 
our subject. Special calls to and qualifications for 
specific missionary work will come under review 

9 



Foreign Missions of the 

hereafter. We are now to consider the work com- 
mitted to Christ's ambassadors. 

It is very tersely and definitely stated in Christ's 
own words, as given by Mark (xvi, 15) : "Go ye 
into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature." It contemplates making known the gos- 
pel provisions of salvation to every human being. 
This is the simple yet grand and majestic work 
committed to the hands of the Christian ministry. 
It will be seen that it leaves little room for making 
a distinction between home and foreign missions. 
The mission of Christ's ambassadors is one. If we 
preach to sinners in America it is because they are 
included in "all the world" and "every creature" to 
whom we are sent. The same authority which per- 
mits us to preach to them binds us to preach to the 
dwellers on the mountain sides of China, to the 
tribes of interior Africa, and to the inhabitants of 
the isles of the sea. 

Matthew (xxviii, 19, 20) gives a fuller form of 
the Great Commission in these words : "Go ye there- 
fore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I have commanded you." Revised Ver- 
sion : "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all 
the nations, baptizing them into the name of the 
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: 
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I 

commanded you." 

10 



Protestant Churches 

No embassy ever had its work more clearly de- 
fined. "Go ye into all the world." That disposes 
of the idea sometimes advanced that we are to 
spread the gospel by letting all the world come to 
us. We are told, "This is the great gathering place 
of all the nations; here are Swedes and Germans 
and Italians and Chinese and Japanese, let us stay 
here and evangelize our own country; we can con- 
vert Germans and Scandinavians and Chinese faster 
here than we can in their native lands." But in the 
marching orders of Christianity there is no com- 
mission nor permission to "stay here." The first 
word in our charter is "Go!" This is the keynote 
of Christianity, and it sounds at once in the heart 
of every new-born child of God. 

" The arms of love that compass me 
Would all mankind embrace." 

And, although he goes first to those nearest to him, 
the impulse to go and the object in going can never 
be satisfied until those who dwell in the uttermost 
parts of the earth are reached. Though the opposi- 
tion in our churches to foreign missions has much 
weakened there is still in many quarters a marked 
indifference to them, to say the least ; and the ques- 
tion is sometimes asked, as if there were some pon- 
derous significance in it : "Were not the disciples 
commanded to begin at Jerusalem?" Certainly they 
were; but the emphasis in that instruction is not on 
the word Jerusalem. There must be some place to 



Foreign Missions of the 

start, and the best place for that purpose is always 
just where one is. The disciples were in Jerusalem, 
and that was the place for them to begin. The 
purport of the divine direction was, "Take up the 
work where you are, and then go on as God opens 
the way." But the Master took good care that the 
disciples should not stay in Jerusalem, even using 
persecution to make an intensely missionary church 
of them; sending them "every where preaching the 
word." 

"The field is the world." The whole field must 
be worked. Every foot of the territory must be 
subdued to its rightful Master. How many shall 
be employed here and how many there must be de- 
cided by sanctified Christian generalship; but the 
whole field must be kept in view, and every local 
movement ought to have reference to the enterprise 
as a whole and to the final result. Whether Grant 
should go down through the Wilderness, or lay 
siege to Richmond, or attack Petersburg; whether 
Sherman should help in these operations, or should 
rather go sweeping down to the Gulf and then turn 
northward to crush the enemy between his forces 
and those of Grant — these were questions of ex- 
pediency to be decided in view of the final result, 
the entire conquest of the whole field for the Union. 
So it may be a question of expediency how many 
men shall be sent to China, how many to Japan, 
how many to Africa, this year. But that any man 

shall say, "I have a commission to preach to a fash- 

12 



Protestant Churches 

ionable congregation in Boston, or Philadelphia, or 
Chicago, and I do not acknowledge any responsi- 
bility beyond this," is not permissible. There is no 
such commission. The commission is to go "into 
all the world, and preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture." In what particular portion of the field any 
minister shall just now labor is a question to be 
decided by providential indications, by divinely sent 
impressions, and by the use of sanctified common 
sense; but let no ambassador of Christ try to shirk 
the obligation imposed upon him by his commis- 
sion. Nay, let no one of them be willing that a single 
word shall be omitted from his glorious credential! 

In this field the work to be done is to "preach the 
gospel." Men are rebels to be brought into alle- 
giance; sinners to be saved. There is only one 
authority competent to settle the terms, and this 
authority has settled them. The business of his 
ambassadors is to proclaim those terms. They are 
very simple. The words of Paul to Timothy and 
the words of Paul and Silas to the Philippian jailer 
cover them : "Christ Jesus came into the world to 
save sinners." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and thou shalt be saved." 

To make known the coming and the sacrifice of 
Christ, its object, and the way by which that object 
may be secured, this is the clearly defined work of 
Christ's ambassadors. A plainer or more simple 
commission no mortal ever held. A grander or sub- 

limer one was never entrusted to archangel. To the 

13 



Foreign Missions of the 

blood-stained millions of earth this message comes : 
You have sinned, and God's wrath is evermore 
against sin. You cannot save yourselves. But God, 
whom you have offended, still loves you, and he him- 
self has planned the means of your redemption. 
His only Son has suffered for you, and if you will 
give yourselves to him he will take your case into his 
own hands, forgive all your past sins, and purify 
your hearts so that you can render acceptable serv- 
ice to your King. This, then, is the message which 
is to be taken to all men. There must be no toning 
down, no compromise. 

No distinction as to these plain terms of salva- 
tion can be made between sinners on Fifth Avenue 
and sinners at the Five Points. If the former do 
not like the classification into which this throws 
them their best course is to get out of it by giving 
their hearts to Christ. Paul had no terms to offer 
to the cultured Athenians different from those given 
to the rude islanders of Melita. Our work would 
be very much more complicated if we were com- 
pelled to adapt the conditions of salvation to the 
various classes of men we are to meet, but as it is 
we have perfectly clear sailing. There is no dan- 
ger of mistake except when we depart from the 
terms of the commission. When we preach to men 
as sinners, when we hold up Christ before them as 
the Saviour, when we tell that the salvation he has 
provided is to be realized by immediately accepting 

his terms and giving him the full trust of their 

14 



Protestant Churches 

hearts we are in no danger of making a mistake. 
It is as safe to make this proclamation in Japan or 
Zululand as in Boston, and as safe to make it in 
Boston as in any heathen land. If we go to philos- 
ophizing on theories of the atonement it is quite 
possible we may bewilder our hearers and find our- 
selves bewildered ; if we spend our time in attempts 
to justify all the ways of God to man we may in- 
volve both ourselves and our hearers in serious dif- 
ficulty; but if we are loyal to our commission, and 
proclaim everywhere the divine terms of salvation 
on the authority of him whose ambassadors we are, 
we will be upon firm ground, sure of his approval 
and of his blessing. 

But not only are Christ's ambassadors authorized 
to proclaim the terms of salvation. They are com- 
manded to make disciples of all nations, "Baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost." But they are not to be 
baptized in order to make disciples of them, as some 
even in our day erroneously teach. Christ never 
attributed any saving power to the water of bap- 
tism. When some of the members of the church 
militant, of whom ecclesiastical history tells us, 
marched into a country and drove the inhabitants 
by thousands to baptism they went far beyond the 
commission. Even in regard to the ceremony of the 
older dispensation the apostle said, "Neither is that 
circumcision which is outward in the flesh ;" but 

"circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and 

15 



Foreign Missions of the 

not in the letter." If not even a true Jew could be 
made by circumcision certainly a true Christian 
cannot be made by baptism. 

All the subjects of this kingdom are voluntary 
ones. As Philip said to the eunuch who desired 
baptism so all true ambassadors of Christ say to- 
day to every applicant, "If thou believest with all 
thine heart thou mayest." We have no commission 
to baptize heathen or unbelieving sinners of any 
other kind. We are commissioned to proclaim the 
terms of salvation and urge their acceptance. When 
those terms have been accepted, and the persons to 
whom we preach have yielded their hearts to Christ, 
then we are authorized to bestow the outward sign 
of the inward grace; allowing them to make public 
profession of what they have experienced. We are 
not to baptize them to make disciples, but because 
they are disciples. We do not affix a seal to a deed 
in order to make the deed, but to show that it is 
made. This work of discipling is to go on until we 
shall have made "disciples of all the nations." 
Nothing less than this can fulfill the terms of our 
commission. 

But a most important part of the work included 

in the commission remains still to be considered: 

"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever 

I have commanded you." Not only are men to 

be turned from their sinful lives and led to make 

full surrender to Christ, but they are to be trained 

in all that belongs to citizenship in his kingdom; 

16 



Protestant Churches 

in obedience of heart, of spirit, of life; in the growth 
and development of Christian character. Just as we 
say of the freedman, "It is not enough that he is a 
citizen; he must be instructed in the Constitution 
and laws of his country and in the duties of cit- 
izenship," so we may say of the newly admitted 
citizens of Christ's kingdom; and the commission 
makes provision for this very necessary and impor- 
tant work. Those who are brought out of rebellion 
into allegiance must be instructed, and that which 
is to be the subject-matter of instruction is "all 
things" which Christ has commanded. The work of 
indoctrination in the great cardinal truths of the 
gospel and in the duties of the Christian life must 
be thoroughly performed if we are true to the terms 
of our commission. It is not enough that converts 
are made, though a loose phraseology is often used 
that seems to imply that the work is all done when a 
man is converted; but whenever a babe is born 
there is a child to be trained, and in every mission 
station the addition of converts implies an immense 
after-work to be done in training these babes in 
Christ in all that belongs to the commandments of 
their divine Master. This may be a far more diffi- 
cult and troublesome work than the simple procla- 
mation of the gospel, but it is not therefore to be 
neglected or slighted. Missionaries have been 
known ere this who delighted to roam over the 
country preaching the gospel and who much pre- 
ferred that all the details of church organization, 
(2) 17 



Foreign Missions of the 

the oversight and training of the converts in all that 
pertains to godliness, should be left to other hands. 
But we are never to forget that it is as much a part 
of our commission to teach the disciples as it is to 
get them to be disciples. 

Our consideration of Christian Missions has thus 
brought before us, i. The authority sending: the 
Lord Jesus Christ. 2. The persons sent : all his dis- 
ciples, and in a special sense the ministers of his 
word. 3. The object to be accomplished : the bring- 
ing of all people into allegiance. 4. The means to 
be used : the preaching of the gospel, and instruction 
and training in the teachings of Christ. His ambas- 
sadors, engaged in this great work, are inspired 
by the gracious promise of his presence with them 
"alway, even unto the end of the world." 

This presents Christianity to us as an essentially 
aggressive institution whose object is nothing less 
than the conquest of the whole world for Christ. 
It leaves no debatable ground. Loyalty to Christ 
requires acceptance of the commission and obedi- 
ence to it. Christianity does not accept a position 
as one of the religions of the world. The proposi- 
tion to admit Jesus as one of the gods of the Roman 
pantheon could not be accepted; when Jesus ap- 
peared there it was the signal for all the heathen 
gods to leave. No true servant of Christ can con- 
sent to place his Master alongside of Socrates, of 
Zoroaster, of Buddha, or of Confucius, and say, "I 

give homage to all ;" he must rather say, "I bow be- 

18 



Protestant Churches 

fore Christ as the all in all." All of truth, in any 
realm of thought, that has been given to any sage 
or philosopher let us gladly acknowledge; but when 
the way of salvation is asked for "there is but one 
name given among men." There is but one reli- 
gion, and that is for the whole race; and its one 
Head is the King before whom every knee must 
bow, and whom every tongue must confess. Any 
man who looks upon Christianity as one of the 
redemptive agencies for mankind — a civilizing and 
elevating power among others — has a radically 
wrong conception. It claims to be the divinely or- 
dained system for the salvation of the race. It 
must be taken to all the world. It must be preached 
to every creature. It must conquer individual 
hearts, and by making these heart conquests dis- 
ciple all the nations. 

It is in the nature of things that such a system 
must be aggressive. A religion intended for all 
mankind, adapted to all mankind, claiming the hom- 
age of every human being, putting forth as its ob- 
ject at the very outset the discipling of all nations 
— such a religion cannot be otherwise than aggres- 
sive. Its claims are in conflict with those of all 
other religions the world has known. It boldly 
proclaims that salvation is not to be found in any 
of them. It tells not of a saviour, but of the one 
only Saviour ; and it insists that he must reign until 
he has put all things under his feet. This is the 
true "light of Asia," because it is "the light which 

19 



Foreign Missions of the 

lighteth every man that cometh into the world." 
Inasmuch as "men love darkness rather than light," 
there are those in the midst of Christianity's sun- 
shine who talk of the "great teachers," Plato and 
Socrates and Zoroaster and Jesus ; who dwell on the 
"beautiful teachings" of these great teachers, to 
whom they yield almost if not quite equal homage; 
who compliment Buddhism and Brahmanism as 
being well adapted to the people among whom those 
religions flourish ; men who boast of their liberality, 
and of having escaped from all bonds of supersti- 
tious reverence, but who do not seem to compre- 
hend that there is a world of rebels against God to 
be dealt with, and that God himself has prescribed 
the terms on which these rebels may be pardoned 
and become members of his own household. 

We are called to a very serious and earnest work. 
We have no time to spend in passing compliments 
on false systems of religion; in throwing the light 
of Christianity around a form of godless heathenism 
until we get some partially sensible people to be- 
lieve that it is almost as good as Christianity itself. 
Christianity is everything, for this fallen race, or 
nothing. If it be not what it professes to be — the 
one way of salvation for all men — it is a delusion 
and an imposture. Every true minister of Christ is 
necessarily a missionary. Inwrought in his soul 
is the conviction that the world needs Christ; that 
Christ is provided for the world; that the world 
may receive him; and this conviction enables him 



Protestant Churches 

to proclaim in all sincerity the great truth of the 
gospel — that Christ Jesus came into the world to 
save sinners. 

Another thought is connected incidentally with 
the subject of this chapter. This review of the 
nature and scope of Christian Missions gives us the 
true basis of missionary work; namely, obedience 
to the command of Christ our King. It is irrelevant 
to inquire how many of the heathen may possibly 
be saved without a personal knowledge of "Christ. 
We are not responsible for the dead heathen, ex- 
cept in so far as we may have allowed them to die 
in heathenism when we might have taken the light of 
the gospel to them. It is not necessary that we should 
settle what their condition is. It is enough for ev- 
ery loyal subject to know that his commission reads, 
"Go — preach — make disciples." Is not this divine 
command the very best authority and the grandest 
inspiration for the work? But we are asked, Does 
not the Master say, "He that believeth and is bap- 
tized shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall 
be damned"? Yes; but nobody construes this lan- 
guage to imply that literally everyone who does not 
believe personally on Christ must be eternally lost. 
No one in these days applies it to infants dying in 
infancy. Sanctified common-sense interprets it, "of 
those to whom this message comes, and who are 
capable of comprehending it, he that believeth and 
is baptized shall be saved." 

Ministers of Christ ought to take the broadest 

21 



Foreign Missions of the 

and noblest view of their grand vocation. It should 
not be considered a commission to take charge of 
some well-established church in a pleasant and cul- 
tured community. That will have to be done by 
some, as a part of the great work, but no earnest 
servant of God should be anxious to do it. It is a 
useful work to take a beautiful garden, in which are 
elegant flowers and luscious fruits, and till it, prun- 
ing a little here and there, adding to its decorations, 
developing more new varieties of beautiful flowers, 
trimming the hedges, and improving its appearance, 
without much real addition to its usefulness, but 
it is a grander, a nobler, a more soul-inspiring work 
to go into the midst of a wilderness and make a 
garden there. To see the changes which come over 
it as chaos and disorder are gradually resolved into 
forms of beauty; as barrenness and bleakness give 
place to fertility and fruitfulness. Considering the 
Master we serve, the work he gives us to do, the 
object he designs to accomplish, which seems the 
more desirable: to have it written, "He came to 
this church. It had four hundred and twenty-five 
members; he received seventy-five more; he weeded 
out fifty names that ought not to have been on the 
church rolls ; he left us with four hundred and fifty. 
He reduced the debt from ten thousand to five thou- 
sand dollars; he was a good pastor and a faithful 
preacher ;"or to have it written, as it was of the noble 
missionary to one of the New Hebrides islands, 
"When he came there was not one Christian ; when 

22 



Protestant Churches 

he left there was not one heathen" ? It is not in- 
tended to intimate that all ministers should become 
missionaries to the heathen, but to say, "Covet 
earnestly the best gifts." Seek to do the most pos- 
sible for Christ your Lord. Be glad of the call that 
takes you to the front; that honors you with the 
order to advance into the enemy's country for your 
Master. Hold yourself in readiness for the Mas- 
ter's call. The spirit of full surrender, of deep and 
thorough consecration of yourself and all your pow- 
ers, which will enable you to do this, will be your 
best qualification for the Master's work — whether 

that work is to be done at home or abroad. 

23 



Foreign Missions of the 



CHAPTER II 

False and True Conceptions of Missions 
and Missionary Work 

It is important at the outset to get a true con- 
ception of missionary work, especially as to its real 
place in the activities of the Christian Church. We 
shall be greatly assisted in forming a right con- 
ception by examining various false conceptions 
which are entertained, and are widely prevalent, in 
regard to this matter. 

It is a very common error to look upon mis- 
sionary work as simply one of the benevolent agen- 
cies of the times. The place it occupies in many 
minds may be represented in this way : In the com- 
munity are many children who are left orphans and 
who are in circumstances of great need. It is the 
dictate of the human heart to care for them and to 
provide for their education so as to fit them for the 
duties of life, therefore an orphan asylum is insti- 
tuted where these unfortunate ones can be received, 
where kind care will be given them, and every 
effort will be made to fit them to become useful 
members of society. 

Again, we find in the community many deaf 

mutes. Their inability to hear and speak puts them 

to disadvantage in many respects and shuts them 

24 



Protestant Churches 

out from instruction in the ordinary schools. They 
must have special institutions and peculiar methods 
of education. Humanity dictates that special pro- 
vision should be made for them, and therefore in- 
stitutions are organized where this unfortunate class 
can receive the instruction adapted to their peculiar 
necessities. 

Here are also large numbers of blind people. 
Deprivation of sight is a great calamity to them. 
Benevolence says, "Help them in their trouble; open 
institutions to receive them. They cannot be taught 
to read our common books; make books for them 
with raised letters, so that fingers may do the work 
of eyes, and they may thus have opened to them the 
Holy Scriptures and books of useful knowledge." 
Hence arise our institutions for the blind. 

Now, the conception which many people entertain 
of mission work is right along on this line. Here 
is a class of unfortunate people who have been 
taught to worship idols and whose minds are dark- 
ened by ignorance and gross superstitions. They 
are in a sad and pitiable condition. It is the dictate 
of benevolence to send to them the light of Chris- 
tianity,. There ought to be an organized effort for 
their enlightenment and salvation, and it is well 
for all humane men to give their countenance and 
support to such a movement. 

The effect of such a view of mission work upon 
those holding it is not difficult of discovery. The 
man who holds it, when applied to for help for an 

25 



Foreign Missions of the 

orphan asylum, or for an institution for the blind 
or for the deaf and dumb, says to himself, "How 
much can I spare for this benevolence?" and he 
makes a donation — larger or smaller according to 
various circumstances which combine to affect his 
decision. To his mind, the appeal for help in car- 
rying on mission work presents very much the same 
aspect: it is simply one cry amid innumerable 
others for help; and it seems a far-away and indis- 
tinct cry compared with some of those that are 
near at hand, and which appear to him very ur- 
gent. The work of missions therefore takes its 
place with him among the other benevolences; he 
gives to it a greater or less sum, with more or less 
heartiness, just as to any other of the benevolences 
upon which he bestows his aid. That this is a rad- 
ically wrong conception will clearly appear when we 
come to contrast it with the right conception. 

Another view quite commonly taken of mission- 
ary work is that which regards it as a civilizing and 
educating agency. There are many men who are 
profoundly impressed with the great blessings of 
civilization. They regard nations which are in a 
barbaric condition with intense pity; and nations 
that are lacking in any of the elements of the best 
and highest civilization excite their commiseration 
just in proportion to their deficiency in this respect. 
Then, too, anything that adds to the general sum of 
human knowledge — anything that throws light on 

the history, the geography, the philosophy of foreign 

26 



Protestant Churches 

countries, or makes known the peculiar customs and 
habits of their people — is regarded with great favor. 
The establishment of schools for instruction in 
Western learning is welcomed by such persons. 
They favor exploration societies, which seek to dig 
up from the earth the ruins of ancient cities and 
bring to light the hidden things of ancient history. 
They look with great favor upon such a movement 
as that of Stanley's, to establish a great free state 
in Central Africa to be a center of enlightenment 
and of healthful influence to all the surrounding 
tribes. Anything which will help the adjustment 
of favorable moral conditions meets with their phil- 
anthropic welcome. 

Now, there are not wanting many who view the 
missionary enterprise simply in the light of a civ- 
ilizing and educating agency, and who support it 
precisely on the same ground on which they support 
any other philanthropic agency which proposes to 
diffuse the light and blessings of civilization among 
the uncivilized, or to add to human knowledge by 
the discoveries it may make and of which it will 
give due report. This also is a low, insufficient, and 
radically wrong conception of the work of missions. 

Another false conception of mission work is that 
which considers it an agency or department in the 
work of the Church. In the minds of many, cer- 
tain things are looked upon as incidental to the 
operations of the Church — auxiliary agencies, to be 

made use of in carrying on its work. For instance, 

27 



Foreign Missions of the 

the Sunday-school is regarded as such an agency; 
a very desirable and excellent institution for bring- 
ing Scripture instruction to the minds of children 
and youth. It was right for the Church to insti- 
tute it, but there is no divine obligation to continue 
it. It is a question of expediency, to be decided 
altogether by its demonstrated usefulness. 

So with the work of education. It is very desir- 
able to provide means of mental training within the 
Church — especially to make adequate provision for 
instruction in the higher branches of learning under 
Christian auspices. The Church has taken up this 
work, and has prosecuted it with greater or less 
vigor according to the means at its command and 
the urgency of the demand at different times and in 
different places. It is a work that may be done, or, 
if circumstances are unfavorable, may be left un- 
done. It is legitimately within the province of the 
Church, but it is not so essential that the Church 
may not exist without it. 

Now, the view of missionary work which we are 

considering puts it in the same category with these 

other agencies ; and this is just the place it occupies 

in the minds of many Christian people. To their 

thinking, the Church is looking about to see what 

benevolent and philanthropic work it can engage in. 

Seeing the necessities of children and youth, it opens 

Sunday-schools, and organizes a Sunday-school 

Union. Seeing the desirability of higher education 

under Christian auspices, it seeks to provide the 

28 



Protestant Churches 

same for its youth and to give such assistance as 
is needed in its attainment, and organizes an Educa- 
tion Society. Seeing the darkened condition of 
the heathen world, the superstition and ignorance 
still prevailing in many Christian countries, the spir- 
itual degradation of great masses of people in the 
cities and in frontier regions, it institutes mission- 
ary work and organizes a Missionary Society. So 
this work of the Church simply takes its place in 
their minds alongside of Sunday-school, educa- 
tional, and other benevolent agencies. This, too, 
is a radically wrong conception; and wherever it 
prevails it is an obstacle to a proper appreciation of 
the true position of missionary work in the Church 
of Christ. 

Closely allied to these wrong conceptions of the 
relations of missionary work to the Church are false 
conceptions in regard to the work of missionaries, 
and especially that of missionaries in the foreign 
held. 

One of these false conceptions may be denomina- 
ted the romantic idea of missionary work. Although 
the whole world is much nearer together to-day than 
it was forty years ago, and China and Japan are 
by no means the almost unknown, far-away coun- 
tries they then were, there is still very much of 
romance connected with the thought of going to the 
other side of the world and entering into the midst 
of oriental scenes and customs ; to find one's self 

surrounded by strange-looking people; to exchange 

29 



Foreign Missions of the 

the familiar oak and elm and maple for the giant 
banyan, the fragrant camphor, and the beautiful 
palm. There is much that is fascinating about the 
Orient. The enchantment of the Arabian Nights is 
thrown around the dreamer; he walks amid scenes 
of indescribable magnificence, and revels in the 
realm of the weird and the mysterious. There is 
a sure and certain remedy for all this — namely, 
actual entrance upon the foreign missionary work; 
but it is a rather costly remedy for the Church which 
sends out such a dreamer to its work at the front. 
The actual contact with heathenism in all its deg- 
radation ; the observation of the great prevalence of 
skin diseases, so that one comes heartily to appre- 
ciate the native's method of salutation — by joining 
his own hands and shaking them at you rather than 
by shaking hands with you ; the sad revelation which 
is soon made that the third plague of Egypt still 
prevails in the glorious lands of the Orient, and 
that the industrious insects which delight so much 
in establishing a joint occupancy of your body 
abound everywhere; the sight of men covered with 
loathsome sores exposing themselves to view upon 
the bridges and in other conspicuous places; the 
realization that if an oriental country is one in 
which "the eye is regaled" it is also one in which 
"the nose is assailed:" the depressing effect of con- 
stant contact with superstition and vice — all these, 
and a hundred other things, speedily dissipate all 

romantic ideas, and leave the missionary who has 

30 



Protestant Churches 

gone out to the ends of the earth under the inspira- 
tion of romance "a sadder, but a wiser man." It 
is safe to say that no man ever goes out to a heathen 
field the second time from any impulse of romance. 
His first sojourn there cures him effectually of that. 

There is another conception of missionary work 
which may be denominated the experimental idea. 
That is to say, a young minister, looking about for 
a field in which to operate, hears of certain openings 
in the great foreign missionary field. He says to 
himself, "Well, I do not know whether I should like 
that kind of work or not. There is a great deal 
about it that seems to me pleasant. The novelty 
connected with it and the spice of danger in sea- 
voyages and residence in an oriental country have a 
sort of charm for me. I have a notion to go and try 
it a while. If I do not like it I can come back ; and 
the experience I get will be useful to me." This is 
no fancy sketch, for there have been missionaries 
whose course of thinking and decision in regard 
to entering upon the work is accurately described 
in the words here used. But this is also an utterly 
false conception of the spirit with which missionary 
work should be entered upon. No man entering 
upon the work with such sentiments as these is 
qualified for his vocation; nor has the Church any 
right to expect success in connection with his labors. 

Another false conception of missionary work is 
that which regards it as a means of getting knowl- 
edge of foreign countries and foreign things, and 

31 



Foreign Missions of the 

which therefore leads men into it from motives of 
curiosity. The acquisition of knowledge is, beyond 
question, very desirable, and when pursued under 
proper circumstances is in every way commendable, 
but Christian missions were not instituted as a 
means for the aquisition of secular knowledge by 
those who engage in them. A man may have a 
special bent for the attainment of knowledge in re- 
gard to foreign countries, the character of their in- 
habitants, their mineral and agricultural resources, 
the peculiarity of their languages, and many other 
things of this kind. Such knowledge is useful. It 
is right for a Christian man to give proper attention 
to it. But when one is weighing the question in 
his mind, Shall I go as a missionary to the foreign 
field? — to decide that question upon the opportuni- 
ties that will be furnished him to gratify his curi- 
osity in these particulars is treason to the Master 
whom he professes to serve. The object to which 
he has consecrated his life is not the acquisition of 
geographical, botanical, mineralogical, or ethnolog- 
ical knowledge, but the salvation of human souls; 
the conquest of the world for Christ. 

Still another false conception of missionary work 
is that which regards it as a means of contributing 
to the world's store of philology, archaeology, and 
kindred sciences. Young men are very apt, during 
their years of school and college life, to acquire a 
taste for research in some particular branch of 

study. Some become intensely interested in the 

32 



Protestant Churches 

study of languages; their origin and development, 
their root words, and the relations of these to those 
of other languages. Others become very fond of 
the study of antiquities. Everything ancient has a 
special charm for them, and it is their joy to explore 
the hidden treasures of ancient times. Of course 
the great oriental nations furnish a fine field for 
study in these particular lines and the problems of 
language presented for solution awaken a keen 
mental appetite, while a vast field for antiquarian 
research also opens before them. No word is ut- 
tered against the usefulness of these studies or the 
propriety of pursuing them. We are simply con- 
sidering the proper and the false conceptions of 
missionary work, and must pronounce that an ut- 
terly wrong conception which allows a candidate to 
think of it as a means by which he may contribute 
to enlighten the world in regard to philology, archae- 
ology, or any kindred science. The science to which 
he as a missionary of Christ is called to give heed 
is the science of salvation through the sacrifice of 
Christ made available to all men through faith in 
him. 

Another false conception of missionary work is 
that which leads one to enter upon it with the idea 
of helping to civilize and elevate the nations. To 
a civilized and cultivated man the sight of nations 
in barbarism, or in a semi-civilized condition, is one 
of sadness. The humane impulse is at once aroused 
to contribute to their civilization and to elevate 
(3) 33 



Foreign Missions of the 

them from their present low condition. This is a 
noble and philanthropic desire. It does credit to the 
head and heart of him who entertains it. It pre- 
sents a worthy object of pursuit, to which a humane 
man might well devote the energies of his life. But 
it is not the work of the Christian missionary, ex- 
cept, it may be, incidentally. His work is of a 
deeper, more radical, more far-reaching kind. He 
deals with the very springs of human action; he 
seeks to secure the regeneration of men's souls; and 
it is a low and unworthy conception of the work 
for a missionary of the gospel to look upon it only 
as a civilizing and elevating agency. A man does 
not need to be a minister, nor even a Christian, to 
engage in that work; a civilized man with humane 
impulses may take it up as a vocation. And, this 
being the case, it must certainly be a very inade- 
quate conception of missionary work which looks 
upon it only as a means to such an end. 

There are many other misconceptions of the mis- 
sionary work of the Church, and of the missionaries 
who go out under her commission, but these will 
serve as specimens and will sufficiently indicate the 
principles which should guide us in coming to a 
right conclusion. Let us briefly summarize them : 

It is a false conception of the Church's missionary 
work to look upon it, i. As a merely benevolent 
agency. 2. As merely a civilizing and educating 
agency. 3. As simply one department of Church 
work. 

34 



Protestant Churches 

False conceptions of the work of the missionary 
are those which look upon -it, i. As a romantic 
work. 2. As an experimental work. 3. As an op- 
portunity to gratify curiosity. 4. As a means of 
contributing to the world's store of knowledge. 
5. As a work of civilizing and elevating the nations. 

What, then, is the true conception of missionary 
work ? 

Simply this: It is the work of the Christian 
Church for which it was organized, and for the 
accomplishment of which it exists. What is the 
Christian Church? Is it not the organized body of 
Christ's followers? What is it here for? Is it not 
for this one purpose : to "go into all the world, and 
preach the gospel to every creature"? Nothing is 
clearer, from a careful consideration of the consti- 
tution of the Church of Christ, than that missionary 
work is the function of the Church as such. It is 
not a benevolence, which appeals to the hearts of 
Christian people and to which they may give more 
or less attention according to circumstances. It 
does not bear the outside, though affiliated, relation 
to the Church that an Orphan Asylum might, or an 
Institution for the Blind. It is not merely a grand 
agency among many others for enlightening and 
civilizing the world. It is not simply a department 
of Church work. It is the one vital, all-absorbing, 
specific work of the Church ; and all departments of 
work are valuable and justifiable just in proportion 

as they bear upon the accomplishment of this work. 

35 



Foreign Missions of the 

The Sunday-school is valuable because it helps in a 
very efficient way this great work of the Church, to 
bring the gospel to every creature, by taking that 
gospel to the minds and the hearts of the young and 
bringing them to Christ in their early days. Ed- 
ucation is valuable because it develops the mental 
powers, and enables those who obtain it to do better 
work for God in the use of their trained intellects 
in his service. The Tract cause is valuable because 
it takes the truths of the gospel in a very convenient 
and efficient shape to multitudes of men. And so 
we may go through all the agencies of the Church 
and show that the only reason they have for ex- 
istence as Church agencies at all is that they con- 
tribute to this, the one great work of the Church: 
to give the gospel to every creature; to make dis- 
ciples of all nations. 

The great work of a temperance organization is 
to save men from drunkenness. If it teaches hy- 
giene it is that men may see the evil effects of 
alcohol upon the human system. If it seeks for 
repressive law it is that temptations to drunkenness 
may be taken away. But no one would think of 
speaking of the effort to save men from drunken- 
ness as one of the agencies, one of the purposes, of 
the society. That is the purpose of the Society; 
the sole reason for its existence. The other work 
which it does is incidental and auxiliary to that. 
So the work of the Christian Church is to take the 

gospel to the world ; and its Sunday-schools, its tract 

36 



Protestant Churches 

agencies, its educational institutions, are all inci- 
dental to that, its great work, and are justified as 
proper agencies to be used by the Church only .as 
they contribute to that for which it exists. 

We have no right to take missionary work from 
the place to which Christ himself assigned it, the 
work of his Church in the world, and put it in any 
subordinate position. It is not allowable to class 
it among the many desirable agencies for helping 
on the Redeemer's kingdom, much less to allow 
Christ's people to look upon it as among optional 
benevolences, to be engaged in or not according to 
their view of present necessities and present re- 
sources. We need to get it into the minds and into 
the hearts of Christians that there is one great pur- 
pose for which the Church of Christ was instituted 
on earth, and that purpose is the bringing of his gos- 
pel to every human heart. Therefore the test by 
which every proposition to engage the Church in any 
form of activity ought to be decided is, "Will this 
help to accomplish the work of taking the gospel to 
every creature?" 

If our reasoning is correct it follows that the 
missionary spirit is an absolute necessity to true 
church life, Air is not more necessary to the body 
than the missionary spirit is to a church of Christ. 
A church which is destitute of that spirit, which has 
no ardent longing for the salvation of the world, 
which is content with its elegant building and its 

comfortably cushioned pews, in which its members 

37 



Foreign Missions of the 

may pleasantly listen to pulpit oratory on the Sar> 
bath, while no duty is felt and no effort put forth 
for the salvation of the world, is a dead church; a 
beautiful form, perhaps, but lifeless as a marble 
statue. What right has any church to expect suc- 
cess — nay, what apology has it for existence, while 
neglecting the work which its divine Head has as- 
signed to it? 

It follows, too, that the very best credential of 
a church's genuineness is its active missionary 
labor. When the Master says "Go," the church 
which most promptly goes shows thereby its great- 
est fidelity to him. When he commands, "Preach 
the gospel to every creature," the church which is 
most active in planning to take the gospel to all who 
are destitute of it, and in wisely executing those 
plans, is the church which gives best evidence of its 
genuine character. When he says "Make disciples 
of all nations," the church which, refusing to 
bound its circle of duties and activities by the limits 
of "the parish," eagerly seeks to do its full share 
in reaching out after the nations that "sit in dark- 
ness, and in the shadow of death" — that is the 
church which bears the impress of its Lord, and 
gives to the world the best proof of being in accord 
with him. 

To secure this proper conception of the relation of 

missionary work to the church we must begin with 

the individual Christian. We must seek to have 

every church member realize that "None of us liv- 

38 



Protestant Churches 

eth to himself;" that the first duty of a converted 
soul is to go out after others — a duty not to be dis- 
charged by proxy. There are many Christians, 
blessed with a considerable amount of wealth, who 
would gladly buy off from duty in this matter by 
the payment of money to support those who will 
do it ; but they need to do unselfish, sacrificing work 
for others in order that they may come into vital 
union with a self-sacrificing Saviour. They need 
to feel that they are not their own, that they are 
bought with a price; and that he who has pur- 
chased them with his own precious blood has given 
them a work to do. Active, aggressive individual 
Christians will make an active, aggressive Christian 
church. Such a church will not be content to ex- 
haust its efforts within its own limits, but will be 
continually seeking for opportunities to push the 
conquests of the gospel into other regions. 

An aggregation of such aggressive individual 
churches in a country will make a great, active, mis- 
sionary Church whose operations will push out into 
all the world, taking the blessings of the gospel to 
the whole needy, perishing race. 

It would seem, too, that sanctified Christian wis- 
dom would lead all the great branches of Christ's 
Church to some concerted and unified action for the 
accomplishment of the great work. As it would be 
folly for a dozen regiments to attack a common 
enemy without any concert of action — all massing 

in one direction, and leaving much of the enemy's 

39 



Foreign Missions of the 

territory without attention; or scattering here and 
there in feeble bands and without any common plan 
— so it does not seem wise for the great branches 
of Christ's army to be carrying on the warfare 
against his enemy without any reference to each 
other, without any consistent plan of action, with- 
out any comprehensive view of the whole work to 
be done and the best arrangement of forces for do- 
ing it. Given the work to be done — the subjuga- 
tion of the world to Christ; and the forces to 
accomplish it — the body of believers throughout the 
world ; it is not too much to say that there ought to 
be conference between the great branches of the 
Church as to the occupancy of fields, surveying the 
whole ground and deciding upon the best way to 
occupy it and speedily bring the world to Christ. 

It would not be a mistranslation of the words of 
our Saviour in his great intercessory prayer to ren- 
der them : "As thou hast made me a missionary to 
the world, so have I made them missionaries to the 
world." The missionary idea is at the root and 
foundation of the Christian Church. Its whole 
spirit and life is missionary. And it must carry on 
the missionary work as the great function for which 
it was created. It is therefore not at liberty to 
delegate this work to an independent society, but it 
is bound to take it up and prosecute it as the very 
work for which it was brought into existence; which 
it has divine authority to prosecute and is under 

divine obligation to perform. 

40 



Protestant Churches 



CHAPTER III 

The Call and Qualifications of Mis- 
sionaries 

If the view of the Great Commission presented 
in the First Chapter be correct it follows that a 
call to the ministry is a call to a share in the work 
instituted by that commission; namely, to "go into 
all the world and preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture;" to "make disciples of all the nations." The 
particular portion of the great field in which any 
minister shall labor is to be determined by the lead- 
ings of the Holy Spirit, by special impressions as to 
personal duty, and by the call of the proper author- 
ities. There was once a prevalent sentiment which 
regarded missionaries as quite a separate class in 
the Christian ministry, who must be distinctly 
called out from the common ranks and feel them- 
selves impelled to consecrate their lives to the mis- 
sion work, and who must then be put under special 
conditions and assume various solemn obligations 
not imposed upon the ministry in general. The 
view which has come to be quite generally enter- 
tained of later years was expressed by Dr. John 
M. Reid, the late Honorary Secretary of the Mis- 
sionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
at the Decennial Missionary Conference at Calcutta, 

41 



Foreign Missions of the 

in 1883, when he said : "Once the missionaries were 
sent out with most minute instructions: now we 
send them out with only such obligations as any 
minister has assumed, and we commit the assign- 
ments to work and all details of the missions en- 
tirely to themselves. It is needless to say we are 
gratified with the result." 

Regarding the call to the ministry as a call to the 
great work of the Church in evangelizing the world, 
it is well to spend a few moments in considering it. 

This call includes, 1. A firm persuasion on the 
part of its subject that it is his duty to devote him- 
self to the preaching of the gospel; 2. Providential 
indications of duty such as are developed in the 
bent of one's mind, in a strong desire awakened in 
the heart, in a sense of dissatisfaction or a feeling 
of being out of place in other pursuits; and 3. The 
coincident belief of the church that the person is 
called to the work. The agent in the call is the 
Holy Spirit. The manner in which the call is com- 
municated varies greatly with different persons. 
The Holy Spirit is not limited in his methods of 
operation, but adapts them to the mental and other 
peculiarities of those upon whom he acts. 

Dr. Kidder says : "A comparison of the mental 
experiences by which a thousand different ministers 
of any given period have reached the common re- 
sult of a devout persuasion that they were moved 
by the Holy Ghost to take upon themselves the 

sacred office, while it might suggest a classification 

42 



Protestant Churches 

of experiences, would hardly discover any absolute 
identity. It would be found that some received dis- 
tinct impressions of this duty in early childhood, 
which grew with their growth and strengthened 
with their strength. Others who received similar 
impressions sought to reject them, and by a course 
of sin grieved the Holy Spirit. They put in jeop- 
ardy their soul's salvation while endeavoring, 
Jonah-like, to escape from duty; nevertheless the 
Spirit strove with them, and before it was wholly 
too late they yielded to his call. Some had dis- 
tinct impression of this duty before their conver- 
sion, and some even for a long period refused to 
seek God in their unwillingness to acknowledge his 
claims upon them to preach the gospel. On some 
minds the conviction of ministerial duty flashed with 
the suddenness of a startling revelation. To others 
it came almost imperceptibly, like the gradual dawn- 
ing of the day. Still others have received the di- 
vine call in the same voice which uttered their par- 
don. To some it has been made known in silence 
and solitude, to others in the midst of public as- 
semblies and under the ministration of the preached 
word. While some have received the sacred call 
without the intervention of man, to many others 
it has been brought with the voice or by the agency 
of Christian friendship. Some have reached their 
profoundest convictions by a species of religious 
instinct; others by slow processes of reasoning and 
by a careful comparison of conflicting claims and 

43 



Foreign Missions of the 

impulses. This call, however brought to the soul, 
ought to be clear and satisfactory." 

No man has a right to expect that a miracle will 
be wrought to assure him of his call to the min- 
istry, nor that the Spirit's call will be demonstrated 
by evidence of an absolutely compulsory nature. 
But this much may be confidently declared : that a 
person genuinely called will find himself somehow 
awakened to consideration of personal duty in re- 
gard to preaching the gospel so as to lead him to 
serious inquiry concerning it; such inquiry leading 
to deeper conviction, and finally to a settled purpose 
in which conscience is satisfied and there is a sweet 
persuasion of being in the path of duty. 

But, it will be asked, is there not a special and 
definite call to devote one's self to missionary work, 
or even to enter some particular field ? By no means 
necessarily. The call to the work of the Christian 
ministry is sufficient; and any man who responds 
to that call to enter upon the great work of the 
Church, "Yes, I'll go, provided I may confine my 
labors within certain limits that I will designate," 
proves himself thereby unworthy to enter upon the 
ministry at all. It is enough that the servant of 
God, having entered the ministry, shall hold him- 
self ready to exercise it wherever God in his prov- 
idence may direct. The attention of the proper 
authorities may be drawn to some particular min- 
ister as being specially adapted to foreign mission- 
ary work, and when their call is presented to him, 

44 



Protestant Churches 

if he has it in his heart to reply : "I am ready to go 
where I am most needed and where I can do the 
best work for God ; if those who know me, and know 
the work, feel persuaded that I am the man who 
ought to be sent I am as ready to go to China or 
Japan or India as to any place in the United States" 
— that man has the true missionary spirit, has a 
sufficient missionary call, and may go forth with the 
expectation of God's blessing. 

HaA T e we not examples of special calls to the mis- 
sionary work? Unquestionably we have. Bishop 
Thoburn is reported as saying that his call to India 
was as distinct and unmistakable as his call to the 
ministry. No one can question the power of the 
Holy Spirit to impress upon the mind and heart 
of a person his duty to enter the foreign field, or 
even to enter some particular part of that field, as 
distinctly as he made known his will to Paul that 
he should go over into Macedonia. There are many 
instances in the history of missions of special lead- 
ings of the Divine Spirit. 

The celebrated Dr. Duff said: "It was when a 
student at college, in perusing the article on India 
in Sir David Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclopedia, 
that my soul was first drawn out as by a spell-like 
fascination toward India. And when, at a later 
period, I was led to respond to the call to proceed 
to India as the first missionary ever sent forth by 
the established National Church of Scotland, my 
resolution was, if the Lord so willed it, never, never 

45 



Foreign Missions of the 

to return again." Very probably he regarded that 
"spell-like fascination toward India," though it may 
not be on record that he ever said so, as the Spirit's 
call in his heart to labor in that field. 

The venerable George Thompson when a young 
man was thrown into prison in Missouri because of 
his activity in befriending slaves and helping them 
to get away where they could be free. From the 
depths of that Missouri prison he was led to devote 
himself to the work of God in Africa ; a noble reso- 
lution to be born in the heart of a young man shut 
up in a professedly Christian country for helping 
Africans to freedom — to give his life to taking the 
gospel to the millions of Africa ! There seems to 
have been in his case a specific call to a particular 
field. Yet his entry in his diary at the time of his 
appointment to Africa shows that he was ready for 
any field. After quoting a number of God's pre- 
cious promises he writes: "Lord, it is enough; my 
soul is satisfied. On these promises will I rest. 
With such assurances I cheerfully leave my father, 
mother, brothers, sisters, wife and child, house, 
land, home and country, to go where thou shalt 
lead. Except thy presence go with me, carry me not 
up hence. Thy presence going with me, send me 
any where. 'Here am I; send me.' Only thy will 
I wish to know. Lead me and guide me to that 
portion of the field where thou seest I can do most 
for thee. , 0n]y thou my Lea der be, 

And I still will follow thee.' 
46 



Protestant Churches 

Any where, any thing, any how, dear Saviour, only 
glorify thy blessed and lovely name." Ought it not 
to be the sincere and earnest prayer of every man 
called into the vineyard of the Lord, "Lead and 
guide me to that portion of the field where thou 
seest I can do most for thee" ? And if this were the 
case would there be any lack of supply for any por- 
tion of the field ? 

The biographer of Henry Martyn tells us that one 
day when he was in company with Mr. Simeon the 
latter remarked upon the great benefits which had 
resulted from the services of Dr. Carey, and "Mar- 
tyn's attention was at once arrested; the vast im- 
portance of the missionary cause flashed upon his 
mind, and his soul was stirred to its depths at the 
thought of the perishing millions who were without 
God, without Christ, and without hope in the 
world." Soon after this, while reading Brainerd's 
biography, he, filled with a holy emulation, re- 
solved to follow the example of a man who "jeop- 
arded his life unto the death on the high places of 
the mission field. . . . He was no quixotic enthu- 
siast, no wild adventurer; but he sat down and 
counted the cost, and was enabled to relinquish 
much that made life sweet and home dear that he 
might, like the brave apostle of old, 'preach amongst 
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ/ . . . 
The hour of decision was one of extreme anguish, 
and at times the struggle amounted to agony. But 
as he was influenced by the highest motives he chose 

47 



Foreign Missions of the 

the thorny path of self-denial rather than the easier 
one of self-indulgence, and he offered himself as a 
missionary." In this case the influence of mission- 
ary conversation and missionary biography led to 
mental reasoning and soul-questioning as to duty, 
which resulted in Martyn's dedication of himself 
to the missionary work. 

I. quote yet one more example. Elijah C. Bridg- 
man, when he was about to graduate from Andover 
Seminary, was called upon on the last day of the 
term by Mr. David Green, the Assistant Secretary 
of the American Board, who asked to see him 
alone, and when they had retired to his room in- 
troduced the subject of a mission to China. This 
was on September 23, 1829. Bridgman says: "In 
reply I told Mr. Green that the mission was one in 
which I felt, and long had felt, a deep interest, but 
had not considered myself as the man for that sta- 
tion; for I had regarded it as one of great interest 
and responsibility, requiring abilities of the very 
first order; and, besides, my own mind had been 
turned more to Southern Europe and Western 
Asia. I told him, however, that if another man 
could not be found, and the mission should after 
due consideration seem to demand such services as 
mine, he might expect a favorable reply." The next 
day he writes: "Rose at four o'clock, prayed for 
divine direction in my future course, and endeavored 
to submit my ways to God. Shall I go to China? 

Oh, may the will of the Lord be done!" 

48 



Protestant Churches 

Four days later he writes: "As the result of my 
own views and feeling, I announced my determina- 
tion to engage in the mission." 

Here is the case of one up to the day of his grad- 
uation not specially called to the missionary field 
but consecrated to the service of Christ, ready to 
go where he is most needed, distrustful of his own 
abilities but willing to let his brethren judge in 
regard to his adaptation to the field. 

Five days later, with no other call than this, his 
mind is made up and he goes out to be one of the 
most faithful, devoted and earnest missionaries the 
China field has ever known. 

No one will have the hardihood to question the 
missionary character of William Taylor; yet, so 
far as appears, William Taylor's call to the mis- 
sionary work is the call he originally received to 
preach the gospel. His subsequent movements un- 
der that call have all been guided by the indications 
of Providence as they have from time to time ap- 
peared to him. Like the founder of Methodism, he 
regards the world as his parish, and where he is to 
labor, whether in Maryland, or California, or Aus- 
tralia, or India, or South America, or Africa, is to 
be decided by circumstances. 

From our reasoning on the constitution of the 
Christian Church and the nature of the Great Com- 
mission, and as well from the consideration of the 
experiences of individual missionaries, we come to 
the following conclusions : 
(4) 49 



Foreign Missions of the 

1. That the call to the work of the Christian min- 
istry is a sufficient call to the missionary work 
when there are providential indications that one 
should go to a mission field and the Church through 
its appointed agencies calls for the service. 

2. That in addition to this there may be in some 
cases a specific and definite call impressed by the 
divine Spirit upon the heart of a person to enter 
upon foreign missionary work, or even upon a par- 
ticular foreign field. 

3. The fact that such special calls are sometimes 
given by no means warrants the conclusion that 
a person should not enter the work unless he re- 
ceives such a call. Neither may one excuse himself 
from mission work by saying that he has no im- 
pressions of duty in that direction. Perhaps it is 
his own fault that he has not. If he has never care- 
fully informed himself as to the claims of the mis- 
sion field, if he has never conscientiously sought. 
to know his adaptation for it, if he has never ear- 
nestly prayed, "Lead me and guide me to that por- 
tion of the field where thou seest I can do most for 
thee," it is not wonderful that he has no impres- 
sions of duty; but that is no proof that he ought 
not to have such impressions, or that he would not 
have them if he were doing his duty and holding 
himself in a listening attitude for the voice of God's 
Spirit. 

Having thus considered the missionary's call we 
next turn our attention to the qualifications de- 

50 



Protestant Churches 

manded of him. Some of them are needed by 
every minister of the gospel, some of them are pe- 
culiar to the calling of a missionary. 

1. Sincere piety is an indispensable qualification. 
Nowhere is a man more out of place than on the 
mission field who does not thoroughly believe in 
God, and whose soul does not bow in deepest rever- 
ence before him. It is not possible for one to go 
to preach to the heathen the unsearchable riches of 
Christ, and to do the work heartily and be sustained 
in it, unless deep in his own soul is the experience of 
divine things and constant communion with God. 

2. Deep and thorough consecration is a requisite. 
The character of the service is such that only conse- 
crated hearts can meet its demands. To leave the 
associations and hallowed friendships of home, to 
go and dwell among the heathen, to feel that the 
whole atmosphere around you is unfriendly and 
fight on with unflagging zeal and a hope that never 
falters — this is a task too great for an unconsecrated 
heart. The true missionary is a man who has made 
a full surrender to his Lord and with his whole heart 
adopts the words of Charles Wesley : 

" Take my soul and body's powers : 
Take my memory, mind and will; 

All my goods, and all my hours ; 
All I know, and all I feel ; 

All I think, or speak, or do ; 

Take my heart, but make it new." 

3. Common sense is imperatively necessary. No 
matter how deeply pious a man may be, if he lacks 

5i 



Foreign Missions of the 

common sense he is a foreordained failure on the 
mission field. There is no quality that can take the 
place of this. Unexpected difficulties, unforeseen 
emergencies, are constantly arising. The condi- 
tions of life are new and complicated. Perplexing 
questions must be met where counselors of age and 
experience are not at hand. Under such circum- 
stances there is nothing so helpful and valuable as 
good, sturdy common sense. If there is a way out 
it is pretty sure to find it. It is not a panacea for 
every ill that missionary flesh is heir to, but it comes 
nearer to being such than anything else. Men of 
unduly imaginative natures, men like him of whom 
it was said that he 

" Could plan new planets without the least misgiving, 
But on this planet couldn't make a living," 

are just the sort of men who are not wanted and who 
are sadly out of place in mission work. Let it be 
understood that a prime requisite — a sine qua non — 
of missionary qualification is good common sense. 
4. A knowledge of human nature is a very de- 
sirable qualification. A man may know books with- 
out knowing much about men. He may be skilled 
in reading Latin and Greek but unable to read his 
nearest neighbor. This is a subtle power, and not 
easy of accurate definition, yet we all know what it 
means, and we see that some have it in a marked 
degree and others are almost destitute of it. Now, 

on the mission field, this power to know men, to 

52 



Protestant Churches 

grasp intuitively the salient points in their charac- 
ters and thus know how to deal with them, is a 
very necessary endowment. 

5. Closely allied to this is the power of adapta- 
tion. Some men seem never to be able to adjust 
themselves to their surroundings; they want the 
whole world to be run on the same principle on 
which their studies are carried on. But the trouble 
is that the world does not run that way. "Many 
men of many minds,'' and of very diverse peculiari- 
ties and idiosyncrasies, are to be dealt with. Happy 
he who can adapt himself to the people among whom 
his lot is cast and to the circumstances by which he 
is surrounded. A rigid, unbendable, cast-iron sort 
of nature is out of place here. The man required 
is one who, like Paul, can become "all things to all 
men" in the best sense, and for the best purpose; 
namely, that he may "save some.' , 

6. Facility in acquiring language is also a 

very desirable qualification. In China, or Japan, or 

India, or in almost any foreign field, it is necessary 

to learn a new language, and unless the missionary 

has some facility in acquiring language he is liable 

to be a great bungler in his attempts to speak to the 

people. Some of the languages depend largely upon 

tones and accents, and upon the nice discrimination 

of aspirate and unaspirate initial sounds. It is not 

impossible for plodding industry to accomplish 

much where this faculty is lacking, but there is a 

very great advantage to start with in having a fac- 

53 



Foreign Missions of the 

ulty for language and some love for the study of 
languages. 

7. Most of the missionary societies are disposed 
to insist that a candidate for service in the foreign 
field shall have a good wife, devoted to the work. 
The ancient injunction concerning the bishop or 
elder, that he should be "the husband of one wife," 
which the church has generally interpreted as mean- 
ing that he should not be the husband of more than 
one, is applied in a mandatory sense by the societies 
of to-day to their candidates. Exceptions are oc- 
casionally made, but the rule is a good one. It is 
emphatically not good for man to be alone in a far- 
off mission field. The comforts of a Christian 
home are nowhere better appreciated. Then, too, 
a single man is often looked upon with suspicion 
where a married man, and the head of a family, is 
welcomed and trusted. Moreover, the presence of 
a Christian family, exemplifying the truths of 
Christian teaching, is always a most healthful and 
helpful influence in a heathen community, and is 
the best means of counteracting the unfavorable im- 
pressions received from the ungodly conduct of men 
from Christian countries who live in utter defiance 
of all the moral precepts of Christianity. Of 
course, there are some disadvantages also. The 
wife and mother, with the peculiar burdens incident 
to her position in an unfriendly climate, is more 
likely to fail in health than her husband, and it 
sometimes happens that in the midst of his greatest 

54 



Protestant Churches 

usefulness a missionary is obliged to return with his 
invalid wife. Sometimes, too, the interests of the 
work demand their separation for a time, and the 
wife returns home to be recruited in health while 
the husband remains upon the field. Then, too, 
arises that most perplexing question, that greatest of 
missionary trials, when children in the most forma- 
tive stages of their character must be sent home 
for education. On account of these things there 
have not been wanting those who have argued for 
celibacy among missionaries. But, estimating all 
the disadvantages at their full worth, it is the al- 
most unanimous opinion of missionaries and of the 
authorities of missionary societies that it is far bet- 
ter, as a rule, that the missionary should go out as 
a married man; taking care that his wife has the 
qualifications that will fit her to share in the glori- 
ous work upon which he is about to enter. One 
word of caution to those preparing for the ministry : 
Do not go immediately to seeking this particular 
qualification for missionary service. It will be well 
to make sure of most of the other qualifications 
first; and to bring to this matter the mature judg- 
ment which the last, weeks of the Senior year can 
supply — or, perhaps better still, make it a post-grad- 
uate study. 

8. Physical health is a necessary qualification. 
It is folly to send out to our foreign field a person 
who is diseased, or one who has marked tendencies 
to bilious complaints, or one who has inherited weak 

55 



Foreign Missions of the 

lungs. The American Board asks of its candidates : 
"What is the state of your health? Did you in- 
herit a good constitution in all respects? Are you 
aware of being now, or of having been at any time, 
subject to any bodily ailment or infirmity? Are 
your habits sedentary, or active?" And all the 
other societies are equally careful in endeavoring to 
secure healthy, vigorous men as missionaries. It 
is partly owing to this fact, as well as to their care- 
ful habits of living, that the missionaries are by far 
the healthiest of all foreign residents in the East. 
Of all the male missionaries connected with the 
Foochow Mission of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church at the end of its first fifty years, only 
six had died, and only two of those died upon the 
field. 

9. It is requisite that the missionary should pos- 
sess well cultivated mental powers. It is a great 
mistake to suppose that his work is among people 
of a low order of intellect. In the bazars of India, 
in the wayside audiences of China, in the halls of 
Japan, he is apt to encounter men accustomed to deep 
philosophical thought — foemen worthy of his steel. 
Workmen who are thoroughly prepared, who will 
have no occasion to be ashamed when brought face 
to face with the thinkers of the Orient, are urgently 
demanded for this work. 

Other qualifications there are, but these are 

among the most important. 

In deciding upon life work the minister of Christ 
56 



Protestant Churches 

should let the claims of the foreign field have a 
calm, deliberate, honest consideration, and his de- 
cision should be such as to meet the approval of his 
conscience and of God. The spirit of consecration 
required for it will prove to be the best possible 
qualification for work at home, should God in his 
providence order the field to be at home rather than 
abroad. 

57 



Foreign Missions of the 

CHAPTER IV 
Home Organization and Methods 

It being the duty of the Church to take the gospel 
to the whole world sanctified common sense would 
seem to teach : 

i. That we have no right to expect the heathen 
to be ready to support the gospel as soon as it is 
presented to them. 

2. That we have -no right to demand that those 
who are sent to make known the gospel to the hea- 
then shall support themselves by some manual or 
other labor. 

3. That whatever is needed for their proper sup- 
port should be supplied by the Church at home. 
The whole Church being under the obligation, it 
is manifest that the particular persons who are 
called out as the executives of the Church in this 
work must be sustained by the disciples at home. 

As it is necessary to raise money to carry on the 
work let us inquire whether there is any Scriptural 
rule in regard to this matter. Do we not find the 
very best rule formulated by the Apostle Paul in 
1 Cor. xvi, 2 : "Upon the first day of the week let 
every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath 
prospered him"? 

On this Dr. Wm. Speer has well said : "The most 

consummate financier in modern ages can add noth- 

58 



Protestant Churches 

ing to, and take nothing from, this brief rule. It 
contains every important principle necessary to the 
accomplishment of the great end in view. All that 
is needed is simple obedience to it in order to 
fill the treasuries of the Christian Church, to secure 
for the Church that favor of God which follows 
from conformity to his will, and to supply means 
sufficient to send the gospel to every creature. It 
is suited to be a complete, abiding and universal 
rule. It is one which should be put upon the walls 
of every house of worship ; which should be written 
in the memory and heart of every professor of re- 
ligion; and which should be taught to every child 
that has been consecrated to God in Christian bap- 
tism." 

Let it be admitted that this rule was given to the 
church at Corinth, as it had been to the churches 
in Galatia, with especial reference to securing aid 
for the suffering Christians at Jerusalem ; neverthe- 
less its appropriateness as a rule for Christian giving 
in general is evident. 

It presents giving as a universal duty. "Let 
every one of you lay by him in store." The poor 
are not to be excused because they have but little 
money. That is a good reason why they should 
give but little, as compared with the rich, but it is 
no reason why they should not give at all. It is a 
great deal better for a church to have a hundred 
dollars given by a hundred poor members than it 
is to have a hundred dollars given by one rich mem- 

59 



Foreign Missions of the 

ber. The most successful churches financially are 
those which come the nearest to securing the giving 
of something by every member of the church. 

This rule contemplates regularity and system in 
giving: "Upon the first day of the week." Men 
say, "What is everybody's business is nobody's 
business," and it may be said, "What is to be done 
at just any time is done at no time." There is a 
great advantage in having a regular time set apart 
for this duty, moreover; it is very much easier to 
give in this way. Few men would feel it a hardship 
to give ten cents a week to the Lord's cause, but 
many of them would be startled at a demand for 
five dollars at any one time during the year. 

This rule also contemplates giving as an act of 
worship. The regularity would be secured if the 
second or fifth day of the week were mentioned in- 
stead of the first, but the command to do it on the 
first day connects it with the service of public wor- 
ship; and there can be no doubt that the glad offer- 
ing of our substance ought to be considered as much 
an act of worship as is prayer or praise. 

This rule prescribes that giving shall be in pro- 
portion to ability or income : "as God hath prospered 
him." The rich are to give largely, the poor less, 
but all are to give; to give regularly, and to give 
according to their means. If this simple rule were 
carried out it is not difficult to see that the treasury 
of the church would be amply supplied for all its 

needs. 

60 



Protestant Churches 

The apostle adds, as an effect that would follow 
the adoption of this rule, "that there be no gather- 
ings when I come." This would shut of! giving 
from mere impulse. The Scripture rule is not im- 
pulsive or compulsory giving, but conscientious, 
regular, proportionate giving. It is one of the most 
important duties of the ministry to urge upon the 
people conformity to the Scriptural rule in this mat- 
ter; and by precept, example and influence to bring 
the church up to the Bible standard of duty. 

One of the best methods for securing money is 
that prescribed by the Methodist Episcopal Church : 

"It shall be the duty of the Pastor, aided by the 
Committee on Missions, to appoint Missionary 
Collectors, and furnish them with suitable books 
and instructions, that they may call on each member 
of the Society, or Church and Congregation, and 
on other persons, at their discretion, for his or her 
annual, semi-annual, quarterly, monthly, or weekly 
contribution for the support of Missions. Said Col- 
lectors shall make monthly returns, unless otherwise 
instructed by the Committee, to the Pastor, or to the 
Missionary Treasurer of the Church, if there be 
such Treasurer appointed by the Committee on Mis- 
sions. Such returns shall be entered in a book, 
which the Committee shall provide, together with 
collections and contributions receded from other 
sources. Such entries shall set forth the name of 
each Collector, the real or assumed names of the 

contributors, and the amount contributed by each." 

61 



Foreign Missions of the 

This is Scriptural. It contemplates that every 
member of the church and congregation shall con- 
tribute, and shall do it regularly. If it were in 
thorough operation throughout that Church there 
would be no difficulty in raising two millions of 
dollars for missions annually. It is a method which 
might well be adopted by other denominations. 

Another excellent method is the organization of 
the Sunday-schools as missionary societies. Not 
only does the steady contribution of small sums by 
the children and youth of the Sunday-schools great- 
ly increase the aggregate offering of the church, 
but the missionary exercises held in the Sunday- 
schools interest the young people of the church in 
the great work and tend to make the future leaders 
hearty supporters of the missionary cause. 

The monthly missionary prayer meeting ought 
to be observed in all the churches, and to be made 
the means of conveying fresh information from the 
field and calling out the hearty prayers of the mem- 
bers in view of the special needs brought to their 
notice. 

In some of the Churches the administration of 
the foreign missionary work has been committed 
to societies organized independently ; but it has been 
seen in most cases that a work which properly be- 
longs to the Church, as such, can only be efficiently 
carried on by the Church. So it has come to be the 
case that most of the great Protestant Churches 

have incorporated the management of their mis- 

62 



Protestant Churches 

sionary work into the Church itself : intrusting its 
administration to boards, composed of ministers 
and laymen, duly elected through the regular chan- 
nels of their respective ecclesiastical organisms. 

Of course these organizations must have capable 
and efficient executive officers. These are, with 
hardly any exceptions, the Corresponding Secreta- 
ries of the missionary boards. To them is intrusted 
the correspondence with the various fields, and all 
the delicate duties of the administration of the af- 
fairs of the boards in their relation to the missions 
and to the individual missionaries. Their office, 
therefore, is one of the highest trust and responsi- 
bility. In addition to this important duty they are 
also charged with the representation of the work to 
the ecclesiastical bodies of their respective denom- 
inations and to the churches in general. There are 
no officers in the Church of Christ charged with 
graver responsibilities, and none whose opportuni- 
ties for far-reaching service of the most useful and 
enduring character are greater, than those of the 
Corresponding Secretaries. They should be upheld 
by the earnest prayers and the most hearty and 
sympathetic co-operation of the ministry and laity 
in all the churches. All that is here said applies also 
to the godly, efficient and self-sacrificing women 
who are the Corresponding Secretaries of the vari- 
ous branches of the Women's Foreign Missionary 

Societies. 

63 



Foreign Missions of the 



CHAPTER V 

Methods and Administration in the For- 
eign Field 

When a missionary enters any field in which an- 
other language than his own is spoken the first work 
before him is to acquire the language of the people. 
Something in the way of preaching may be clone 
through an interpreter, but where a mission is es- 
tablished, and there are missionaries and native 
preachers acquainted with the language, it is not 
necessary for a new missionary to preach imme- 
diately and he is left at liberty to prosecute his study 
of the language. The time will vary, with the com- 
parative difficulty of the languages and the differ- 
ing abilities of the men, from a few months in the 
Spanish-speaking countries to eighteen months or 
two years in China before one will be fully prepared 
to preach, though he may converse on ordinary 
topics considerably sooner. 

There are various branches of work in which a 
missionary may profitably engage, but the main 
work abroad, as at home, is to preach. The laconic 
statement of the Methodist Discipline, "The duty of 
a preacher is: i. to preach," applies to the whole 
field, but the circumstances under which he preaches 
in the foreign field of course differ widely from 

6 4 



Protestant Churches 

those of the home field. In many countries he must 
do much out-door preaching, gathering his audi- 
ences in the bazars, in open courts, in the areas of 
heathen temples, along the waysides, on the sea- 
shore — where oftentimes, like his Master, he may 
enter a boat and, making its deck his pulpit, address 
the people. Frequently he may have occasion to 
resort to the groves — "God's first temples." Of 
course his style of address must be adapted to his 
surroundings. His method must be largely conver- 
sational. He must not only allow the people to ask 
him questions, and that upon a range of subjects 
which could hardly be allowed in our churches, but 
he must catechise them with the purpose of finding 
out the extent of their knowledge in spiritual mat- 
ters and judging of the kind of instruction best 
adapted to them. He may sometimes prepare the 
way for his discourse, as his Master did with the 
woman of Samaria, by asking for a drink of water. 
The fact that he is not above asking a favor and the 
fact that his auditor has done him a service will 
have much to do with establishing a kindly feeling 
to begin with. He will do well, too, to follow the 
Master's example in making his preaching simple, 
clear and earnest ; leading the thoughts of his hear- 
ers to the spiritual nature of the one true God and 
the spiritual character of his worship, and then to 
the necessity of a mediator to lead us to him. Then, 
although he may not say, as Christ did, "I that 
speak unto thee am he," he may say as Ling Ching 

(5) 65 



Foreign Missions of the 

Ting, the Chinese preacher, so often did: "J esus 
Christ can save you from all your sins; I know it, 
for he has saved me from mine." This preaching 
from personal experience is everywhere the very 
best kind of preaching. 

While speaking of the nature of God, in heathen 
lands, the way is of course open to show the folly 
of idolatry ; then to present proofs of revelation and 
to tell the ever wondrous story of the cross. It is 
true that this may be "a stone of stumbling, and a 
rock of offense" to many, and their feeling may be 
like that of Hii Yong Mi on his first sight of the New 
Testament. He says : "Turning over leaf after leaf 
one name alone was conspicuous on every page and 
nothing else could I see, the name of Ya-su, Ya-su 
(Jesus, Jesus). I was disappointed, angry, and in 
a sudden passion of rage I tore the book to pieces, 
threw the fragments on the floor, and not satisfied 
with destroying the book I wished for some sharp 
implement by which I might expunge the name Ya- 
su which stared at me from the mutilated pages." 

But, although the heathen may rage at the name 
of Jesus when first presented, they may afterwards 
be won to it. Hear again from Hii Yong Mi : "Later, 
on my coming to a knowledge of the doctrine of 
Christ, I recognized that in this action had been 
fulfilled the words of the Psalmist, They hated me 
without a cause/ I also thought, with such a dis- 
position the crowd about the cross had cried out, 

'Crucify him ! Crucify him !' Was I not, indeed, in 

66 



Protestant Churches 

the same category with them? Alas! A sinner, I 
knew not that he who in the beginning created 
man, heaven, earth, and all things, who dwells with 
the Supreme God, who is the way of eternal life, 
this One, become Man, was this same Jesus. He 
who, alone for our sake, descended from heaven, 
sacrificed his body and shed his blood to redeem us 
from sin and save us from everlasting death, who 
commissioned us to attain everlasting life, in end- 
less joy to roam the heavenly plains, was this Jesus. 
He who corresponded exactly to that for which I 
had so imploringly longed, so hungered and thirst- 
ed, whose salvation I had craved, was Jesus. Him, 
the source of my life, my ladder of ascent to heaven, 
my light of true righteousness — why knew I not to 
love and reverence him, to draw near to him, instead 
of in anger to pierce and reject him?" 

Besides the outdoor preaching there are churches 
and chapels in which the people can be kept under 
better control but where the preaching to heathen 
audiences must be essentially the same. There is 
this great advantage, however, that in them there is 
much better opportunity for after meetings, in which 
direct personal work can often be done to good ef- 
fect. The Rev. Griffith John gave a good illustra- 
tion of this. In the General Conference at Shang- 
hai, in 1877, he said: "At the close of one of my 
services a man followed me into the vestry and 
addressed me thus : 'I have just heard you say that 
Christ can save a man from his sins. Can he save 

67 



Foreign Missions of the 

me?' 'What sins have you?' I asked. 'Every sin 
you can think of/ was his reply. Then, reckoning 
his sins on the tips of his fingers, he said, 'I am an 
opium smoker, fornicator, gambler, and everything 
that is bad. Can Christ save me?' I said, 'Yes, 
Christ can save you.' 'When?' he asked again. 
'Now,' was the emphatic reply, 'if you will but 
trust him for this salvation.' We both prayed, he 
leading and I following. He was converted then 
and there, I believe, and at once became one of the 
most earnest Christians I have ever known. Though 
not employed as a native agent he is ever making 
known the way of salvation to his acquaintances. 
His gospel is Christ the Saviour from sin; and the 
evidence of Christ's power to save, adduced by him, 
is the fact that he himself has been thus delivered 
from the dominion of his own sins by simple faith 
in the Redeemer. Several have been brought into 
the church through the instrumentality of this 
man." 

Besides the services for heathen congregations it 
is often best to hold, especially on the Sabbath, spe- 
cial services for Christians, where the preaching 
may be more systematic and instruction can be given 
adapted to the needs of a Christian congregation. 

As soon as a few converts are gathered they are 

organized into a church. The native converts should 

be instructed from the beginning, however poor 

they may be, to contribute as they are able for their 

own church expenses. Very soon some among the 

68 



Protestant Churches 

converts will show a disposition to preach, and man- 
ifest a gift for preaching. Then they can be licensed 
and sent out. Congregations are gathered by them 
very frequently in the houses of those who first 
believe, and then chapels are built; in many places 
simple and inexpensive, but adequate to the needs 
of the people. A number of churches gathered in 
a particular region will soon need organization into 
a Conference, or Presbytery, or Association, and 
thus, gradually and naturally, higher ecclesiastical 
bodies will be formed. 

Besides the direct preaching, which is always and 
e\'ery where the chief work of the ministry, there 
are several very important auxiliary agencies. 
Prominent among these are schools ; day schools, in 
which, along with the ordinary branches of learn- 
ing, the truths of the gospel can be taught, hold a 
very important place in mission work. Through 
these the gospel is brought to the minds of the chil- 
dren and often taken by them to their heathen 
homes. Boarding schools, academies and colleges 
will all be demanded as the work advances, and 
theological seminaries for the training of young 
preachers are of the highest importance. In ad- 
dition, considerable help may be given to the native 
preachers by the missionaries in their periodical 
visits to the various stations. 

The medical work is also an important arm of 
missionary service. In heathen lands medical 
knowledge is very crude and imperfect, and surgery 

69 



Foreign Missions of the 

almost entirely unknown. It is well to follow in 
the footsteps of the Master and administer healing 
to the body as well as to the soul. It is a good way 
to get to the hearts of the people, and to open many 
doors to the entrance of the gospel which might 
otherwise remain closed. 

Woman's work, as carried on by the women's 
missionary societies of the different churches, is one 
of the most effective agencies of the work. The 
seclusion in which women of the higher classes in 
China and India are kept renders this special work 
of consecrated Christian women for their heathen 
sisters one of special importance. Their teaching in 
schools, their instruction and supervision of Bible 
women, their wonderful work in medicine and sur- 
gery, all are telling with immense power in heathen 
lands. 

The distribution of Christian literature is another 
vast agency for good. Bibles and tracts, hymn 
books, Christian biographies, and school-books, are 
printed wherever Christian missions are found. 
Closely connected with this is the work of transla- 
tion. A Christian literature is to be provided for the 
growing Christian communities ; the Bible is to be 
translated into the general languages and the local 
dialects, older and imperfect translations to be re- 
vised, books of every useful kind to be translated or 
composed. 

It will readily be seen that the mission field af- 
fords opportunity for the exercise of every variety 

70 



Protestant Churches 

of talent and gives abundant scope for all peculiari- 
ties of mental disposition. With its evangelistic, 
its educational and its linguistic demands, and its 
intellectual combats with able thinkers, all classes of 
consecrated talent will find full employment. In 
all this work it must constantly be kept in mind 
that the object to be accomplished is to bring the 
gospel, with all its blessings, to every creature. 
Schools, medical work and all other agencies are 
subordinate and auxiliary to the preaching of the 
gospel, and are to be cherished in proportion to their 
efficiency in aiding to bring about the grand result 
of discipling the nations. It must be noted, too, 
that the best and most useful men in our foreign 
fields have been brought in through the preaching 
of the gospel and have been trained in the work. 
On the other hand, it must be remembered that these 
very men are most earnest for the establishment of 
schools and for a thorough training of young men 
for the work. 

It is important, moreover, to keep constantly in 
mind that the good to be attained is the establish- 
ment of a self-supporting, self-governing and self- 
propagating church. Anything which tends to 
pauperize the native church, and lead it to lean per- 
petually on the home church, is to be carefully 
avoided; tendencies to keep the reins of government 
in the hands of the foreign missionary are to be 
guarded against; the idea must be early implanted 

in the minds of native Christians that they must 

7i 



Foreign Missions of the 

propagate the gospel in their own land and in neigh- 
boring regions. 

It is evident that the evangelization of all the 
great heathen countries must be accomplished by- 
natives. As Bishop Thomson said to the Chinese 
Christians, "We have brought the cross to your 
shores; you must take it up and carry it through 
the Empire." As the Rev. R. S. Hardy, of India, 
said at the Liverpool Conference : "The truth must 
be naturalized; it must cease to be regarded as an 
exotic before it can thoroughly permeate and per- 
manently regenerate any given nation." 

All will agree that China must be evangelized by 
Chinese, Japan by Japanese, and every great coun- 
try by its own natives; but as soon as the question 
of employing native agency comes up we find two 
antagonistic opinions developing. The matter is 
necessarily very intimately connected with the self- 
support of the native churches; and while all agree 
that the native church should become self-sup- 
porting as rapidly as possible, and that the sal- 
aries of native preachers should not be beyond the 
ability of the native churches when fully established, 
or such as to remove them in style of living from the 
people, there is great difference of opinion on this 
one point: should any native preacher be employed 
by, and paid with the money of, the foreign mis- 
sionary society? There are some who hold that no 
native should be employed as a preacher, and cer- 
tainly never ordained, until he is wholly supported 

1* 



Protestant Churches 

by the native church. Such arguments as these are 
used : 

i. The voluntary labors of a man in hours out- 
side of his daily work are more valuable than his 
whole time when he is paid for it. 

2. Paying native preachers presents a temptation 
to go into the work for money. 

3. The payment of wages to native preachers 
tends to dwarf, if not to extinguish, voluntary 
service. 

4. It retards self-support. 

5. It makes the missionaries sole judges of the 
qualifications of preachers, to receive and dismiss 
them at pleasure, which is ecclesiastically wrong. 

In answer to this it is said : 

1. If voluntary labors are more valuable than 
paid labor it must be so everywhere ; and the argu- 
ment, if it proves anything, proves too much, and 
is destructive of the ministry as a body set apart to 
a special work. 

2. The payment of wages will be no temptation 
to enter the work for money if the amount paid is 
not more than the person could earn in another em- 
ployment; especially when he is subject to persecu- 
tions and trials as a preacher from which he would 
otherwise be free. 

3. The payment of wages to men who give their 
whole time to the work ought not to hinder volun- 
tary service on the part of those who have remuner- 
ative employment. 

73 



Foreign Missions of the 

4. It ought not to retard self-support if only a 
moderate sum is paid, and if the native church is 
instructed from the outset that it must do its utmost 
to support its own ministry. 

5. In the beginning of missions it is a matter of 
necessity that the missionaries should exercise much 
power in the selection, employment and dismissal 
of native agents. But as soon as churches can be 
organized the members can be trained to their ap- 
propriate share in the matter. 

Many missionaries feel that, when among the 
converts we find men of piety, zeal, self-sacrificing 
spirit, understanding the word of God and having 
a personal experience of divine things, glad to go 
and preach the gospel, it would be wrong to wait 
until a native church should grow up, able to sup- 
port them, before they should be sent forth to use 
their powers for the furtherance of Christ's' king- 
dom. 

Dr. Blodget voiced the sentiment of this class, 
when he said at the Shanghai Conference: "The 
churches in China may educate at their own ex- 
pense young men from Mongolia or Korea and 
support them afterward while preaching the glad 
tidings to their own countrymen. Why may not the 
churches in the United States or England in like 
manner educate and support Chinese preachers? 
The Chinese Christians are poor. There are among 
them those who are desirous of preaching the gos- 
pel. Is there anything in the word of God, or in 

74 



Protestant Churches 

the example of Christ, to hinder our affording such 
aid to them as they may require?" 

The author may repeat what he said at the same 
Conference : 

"The path of truth and safety in this, as in most 
other matters, lies probably between the two ex- 
tremes. With so large a field before us, and some 
converted men ready and qualified to preach the 
gospel, it certainly does not seem to be the wisest 
policy to wait for a church to grow up and become 
able to support them before they are sent forth. 
Why may we not as well employ a missionary 
from Foochow at Yenping, as one from America at 
Foochow? The fact that we can employ ten of the 
former with the same amount of money that is re- 
quired for one of the latter certainly constitutes in 
itself no objection to their appointment; nor can it 
be shown that it is better to leave all such outlying 
regions to occasional visits from the missionary, or 
to draw on the home Church for men and means to 
occupy them permanently, than to send out native 
preachers for the time being at the expense of west- 
ern churches. 

"The proper conclusion, then, seems to be: Em- 
ploy suitable men to preach the gospel to their hea- 
then countrymen; but as soon as members are re- 
ceived into church fellowship accustom them, from 
the very first, to give according to their ability for 
the support of the gospel. And, that they may do 
this the more speedily, carefully avoid placing the 

75 



Foreign Missions of the 

salary of the native preacher at too high a figure — 
such as the native church will be unable to pay, and 
from which the native preacher will be unwilling to 
come down. This is not a case to which Jacilis est 
descensus' will apply." 

As indicating the feeling which is sometimes en- 
gendered among native preachers, and some of the 
dangers to be guarded against, take the following 
from the remarks of Ram Chandra Bose at the 
Decennial Conference in India: 

"The salary question is an important factor, and 
should not be thrown into the background. The 
men raised have a right to be paid. If doctors, law- 
yers and undertakers, who are said to feed upon 
human misfortunes, have a right to be paid, they 
certainly have. By whom are they to be paid ? By 
those who, under God, send them forth. John Wes- 
ley's mother is said often to have sent her children 
to bed with a blessing but without a supper. If the 
Queen of England were to adopt this course her 
conduct would justly be censured, that being ab- 
solutely wrong in her which was right in poor Mrs. 
Wesley. In the same way the course adopted by 
the poor church at Jerusalem, in the matter of send- 
ing out preachers in the days of the apostles, would 
be wrong if adopted by the rich churches of Chris- 
tendom to-day. These can make a provision for the 
preachers they send, and are therefore bound to see 
that they are provided for. These are the churches 

that appoint native preachers through the instru- 

76 



Protestant Churches 

mentality of their agents here, and they are equally 
bound to see that these preachers are provided for. 
Nothing can be plainer than this. But it has been 
said that the paying system has demoralized the na- 
tive preachers. Not more certainly than it has the 
missionaries ! If the non-paying system is the right 
system it ought to be adopted in the case of the 
missionary as well as in that of his assistants." 

Native preachers thus employed ought to have as 
good a theological training as possible, but it is not 
always best that it should be in a theological school. 
Rev. R. B. Lyth, of the Fiji Mission, with fourteen 
hundred church members, found it best to train the 
native preachers in the work, for the work. He 
found they could not endure the close confinement 
of an institution, but with plenty of work and ex- 
ercise they would come to their studies with zest. 
Dr. Mason, of the Toungoo Mission in Burmah, 
found it best to take his students out with him, as 
he walked toward the groves at the approach of 
evening, asking them questions and instructing them 
along the way. The early Serampore missionaries 
gave most of their instruction to helpers while they 
were engaged in the work. This also was largely 
the case in all the missions in China. Where the- 
ological schools are established it is quite customary 
to send the students out in the surrounding regions 
to preach. 

In selecting native preachers careful inquiry must 
be made as to their possession of "gifts, grace and 

77 



Foreign Missions of the 

usefulness." The evidence in regard to this must 
first be weighed by the missionaries. When there 
is a native church the judgment ought to be the 
joint judgment of the church and the missionaries 
until the native church is self-supporting, when it 
may and ought to be allowed to be also self-gov- 
erning. 

As mission work advances, what ought to be 
the rule in regard to making changes in the habits 
and customs of the people? 

Clearly, we ought to require that all habits and 
customs which are superstitious, indecent or unchris- 
tian shall be abolished ; with innocent customs there 
should be no interference. It is no part of our 
business to dictate what kind of clothes a people 
shall wear, but in those regions where it is not the 
custom to wear clothes at all it is right to insist on 
a change. The Chinaman's cue being a badge of 
his loyalty to the present government, and the wear- 
ing of the hair in that way being no sin, we have no 
right to ask him to abandon it. The cramping of 
the feet of girls being cruel, and therefore unchris- 
tian, must be given up. The custom of allowing 
every one who pleases to come to the house of a 
newly married couple on the evening of their wed- 
ding, and to tease and blackguard the bride as they 
please, being inhumane and unchristian, must be 
abolished. The rule given will generally be found 
easy of application. 

As to the administration of missions, it is gen- 
78 



Protestant Churches 

erally conducted in accordance with the principles 
of the denomination to which the missionaries be- 
long; although the most strenuous Congregational- 
ist will often find it necessary to exercise pretty 
ample episcopal powers in the initial stages of mis- 
sion work, and some will retain them, either through 
the force of habit or a natural fondness for dom- 
ination, after the necessity for it has passed away. 

In Methodist Episcopal Missions the bishop in 
charge has the same authority as in a home Con- 
ference. When he is present at the annual session 
he fixes the appointments. During the year he may 
of course make any changes he deems advisable. 
The Discipline provides that 

"When a Mission is established in a foreign 
country, or in the United States and Territories 
outside of Annual Conferences, the Bishop having 
Episcopal Supervision of the same shall appoint a 
Member of the Mission as Superintendent, who may 
also be the Presiding Elder of a District. It shall 
be the duty of the Superintendent, in the absence 
of a Bishop, to preside at the Annual Meeting of 
the Mission, to arrange the w T ork, and take general 
supervision of the entire Mission, and to represent 
the state of the Mission and its needs to the Bishop 
having charge, and to the Corresponding Secre- 
taries." 

The Annual Meeting referred to is composed of 

all the missionaries and native preachers, and has, 

"in all ecclesiastical matters, the functions and priv- 

79 



Foreign Missions of the 

ileges of a District Conference." It also transacts 
"such other business as may be assigned by the 
Board, or grow out of the local interests of the 
work." 

It is customary, in missions in which the mem- 
bers are not too widely scattered, to have monthly 
or quarterly meetings to act upon all questions that 
may arise in the prosecution of the work, decisions 
being made by a majority vote. 

The mental peculiarities and the innocent habits 
and usages of the people should have careful con- 
sideration in the framing of ecclesiastical organ- 
izations. The general harmony prevailing among 
missionaries of different denominations and their 
willingness to learn from each other, to "prove all 
things," and to "hold, fast that which is good," are 
reasons for hopefulness in regard to the church of 

the future in the great mission fields. 

80 



Protestant Churches 



CHAPTER VI 

Origin and Growth of Protestant Foreign 
Missions 

Without doubt the seeds of foreign missions 
were sown in the Reformation, and we have some 
indications of the fact here and there : as, for in- 
stance, the wish expressed by Erasmus that the 
Gospels and Epistles "were translated into all 
languages, so that they might be read and under- 
stood, not only by Scots and Irishmen, but also by 
Turks and Saracens;" and the expression of his 
belief that in Asia and Africa "there are surely bar- 
barous and simple tribes who could be easily at- 
tracted to Christ if we sent men among them to 
sow the good seed." 

In 1555 Admiral Coligny, afterward leader of 
the Huguenots, who was among the martyrs of 
the St. Bartholomew massacre, sent fourteen mis- 
sionaries to Brazil, two of whom had been chosen 
by Calvin ; but the Portuguese soon put an end to 
this Protestant colony. 

Gnstavus Vasa, of Sweden, sent a mission to the 
Lapps in 1559, opened schools among them, and 
had Swedish books translated into their language. 

The Dutch did some missionary work as they 

advanced into the Orient, driving the Portuguese 
(6) 81 



Foreign Missions of the 

out of Malaysia and Southern India. The work 
of Grotius on the Evidences of Christianity was 
written as a text book for Dutch missionaries 
in their preaching to the heathen ; and it is said that 
he personally interested seven jurists of Lubeck 
to go out to the East as missionaries. Peter Heil- 
ing went to Abyssinia in 1632. As early as 1612, 
Walaeus, a Professor in the University of Leyden, 
instituted a college for training missionaries. In 
1637 eight missionaries were sent out to the Dutch 
West Indies on the request of the Governor Gen- 
eral at Pernambuco. 

The followers of John Huss in Bohemia formed 
themselves into "the Church of the Brethren of the 
Love of Christ" in 1457, and ten years later, unit- 
ing with some of the Waldenses and the Moravians 
notwithstanding many severe persecutions, they 
became the Unit as Fratrum, better known as the 
Moravian Church. This martyr church was 
nearly exterminated by the Jesuit "Anti-Reforma- 
tion" under Ferdinand II, in 1617; nevertheless, 
there was a remnant of faithful ones through the 
century and in 1722 some of them emigrated to 
an estate of Count Zinzendorf, in Saxony; where, 
on June 17, 1722, the first tree was felled for the 
settlement of Herrnhut, since so widely known as 
the headquarters of the Moravian Church and of 
its great missionary activities. It is said of Count 
Zinzendorf that at four years of age he made this 

covenant with Christ : "Be thou mine, dear Saviour, 

82 



Protestant Churches 

and I will be thine." At the age of ten he became 
a pupil of Franke, at Halle, where he formed cir- 
cles for prayer and organized his fellow students 
as "The Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed," 
which pledged them to seek the conversion of 
others — of heathen and Jews. He married Erd- 
muth Dorothea, a lady of rank; but they cast all 
rank aside and covenanted to be ready to go to 
the heathen, staff in hand. They were glad to 
find the Moravian refugees at the Count's estate of 
Berthelsdorf . The Count consecrated his property to 
the work of forming circles of pious people within 
the Lutheran Church. When Dober and Nitschmann 
set out for St. Thomas, West Indies, in 1732, they 
were willing to become slaves themselves in order 
to reach the slaves to whom they went. In 1733 
the Moravians began their work in Greenland 
which has met with such marked success, in 1734 
their work among the Indians in New York and 
Pennsylvania, and in 1735 a missionary was sent 
to the Indians in South America. In later years 
they have taken up work in Africa, Australia, India 
and Tibet; and their missions have grown until 
they have 100,000 persons in their congregations. 
George Fox, the Leicestershire shoemaker who 
founded the Society of Friends, wrote, about 1643 : 
"All Friends everywhere, that have Indians or 
blacks, you are to preach the gospel to them and 
other servants, if you be true Christians ; for the 
gospel of salvation was to be preached to every 

83 



Foreign Missions of the 

creature under heaven." In 1661 three of his fol- 
lowers were moved to go towards China and 
Prester John's country. Of these, Richard Costrop 
fell ill and died, while John Stubbs and Henry Fell 
reached Alexandria and there delivered their mes- 
sage to Turk, Greek, and Papist. George Robin- 
son obeyed "a call" to preach in Jerusalem. Mary 
Fisher faced the sultan Mahomet IV with impunity. 

The Pilgrims who sailed in the Mayflower in 
1620 were missionaries. Though Robinson wrote 
to the Governor of New Plymouth, "Oh that you 
had converted some before you had killed any!" 
yet one of their number was set apart to labor for 
the conversion of the Indians. In the charter which 
Charles I gave to the colony of Massachusetts it 
was asserted that "the principal end of the planta- 
tion was to win and invite the natives of the country 
to the knowledge of the only true God and Saviour 
of mankind, and the Christian faith;" in 1646 the 
Colonial Legislature accordingly passed an act for 
the propagation of the gospel among the Indians. 

The first missionary society among Protestants 

was created by an act of the Long Parliament, 

under Cromwell, in 1649, which chartered the 

"Corporation for the Propagation of the Gospel in 

New England." Eliot and the Mayhews were 

helped by this Society, and "Mistress Bland," the 

first English woman missionary. John Eliot, born 

in 1604, reached Boston in 1630, was ordained 

Presbyterian minister of Roxbury, and gave the 

84 



Protestant Churches 

last fifty-eight years of his life, ending in 1690, to 
the evangelizing of the Pequot tribe of the Iro- 
quois Nation. He formed the first church of 
Red Indians at Natick in 1660, and printed the Mo- 
heecan Bible, at Cambridge, 166 1-3. Before his 
death there were eleven hundred members in six 
Indian churches. The Moheecans became extinct 
in the subsequent wars, and in 1836 one hut, with 
four half-breed inmates, represented all that was 
left of his work. 

The East India Company, chartered first in 1600, 
could not claim in any other than an unconscious 
and unintentional manner to have been a missionary 
agency. Chaplain Terry, of Sir Thomas Roe's 
embassy, sent by James I to the Great Mogul, re- 
ported that the natives said of the English, "Chris- 
tian religion devil religion ; Christians much drunk ; 
Christians much do wrong; much beat; much 
abuse others." This has unfortunately continued 
to be true of very many for two and a half centuries. 
Nevertheless the charter of the United East India 
Company, given in 1708 by King William III, con- 
tained provisions for a missionary establishment. 
The ministers were to learn the language of the 
people, "the better to enable them to instruct the 
Gentoos in the Protestant religion." But the first 
missionaries sent avowedly to evangelize the na- 
tives of India were sent by the Danish Government 
and the German Pietists — namely, Ziegenbalg and 

Plutschau — and their work was almost entirely con- 

85 



Foreign Missions of the 

fined to the territory in Tranquebar that was under 
Danish rule. 

Christian Friedrich Schwartz, of Sonnenberg, 
Prussia, born in 1726, died in 1798, was granted a 
free passage to India with his company, by the East 
India Company, in 1750. His labors in Tan j ore, 
Tinnevelly and elsewhere met with much success, 
and he must be considered the founder of the native 
church in Southern India, which now numbers five 
hundred thousand people. He is worthy of per- 
petual remembrance among the early founders of 
Protestant missions. 

The first Protestant missionary to Calcutta was a 
Swede, Kiernander, of the Danish-Halle Mission 
at Cuddalore, who went to Calcutta in 1758 on the 
invitation of Lord Clive himself. At the end of 
twenty-eight years of missionary work he had two 
hundred and nine heathens and three hundred 
Romanists as converts. Mr. Charles Grant, who at 
first went out to Bengal as a trader, was instrumen- 
tal in opening missionary work in North India. He 
and those associated with him sent home for eight 
missionaries, of whom Grant was to support two. 
The men were sent out, and spent three years at 
Benares in the study of the native languages, but 
their hopes were not realized owing to the opposi- 
tion of the East India Company. 

The idea of a world-wide propagation of the 

gospel does not seem to have taken any hold upon 

Protestant Christians in England until the Eight- 

86 



Protestant Churches 

eenth Century had made much progress. Rev. 
Robert Millar, a Presbyterian minister in Paisley, 
published in 1723 his History of the Propagation of 
Christianity and the Overthrow of Paganism, in 
which he urged effort for the conversion of the 
heathen world. In 1744, after some remarkable 
revivals of religion had occurred, a number of min- 
isters who felt awakened to duty in this regard es- 
tablished "a concert to promote more abundant ap- 
plication to a duty that is perpetually binding — 
prayer that our God's kingdom may come, joined 
with praises." This was to be observed on Satur- 
day evening and Sunday morning, with a special 
solemn observance on the first Tuesday of each 
quarter. This had a rapid spread in England, and 
in 1746 a memorial was sent to Boston inviting 
all Christians in America to pledge themselves to 
join in it for the next seven years. Out of this 
grew the celebrated work of Jonathan Edwards, 
"A Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agree- 
ment and Visible Union of God's People inExtraor- 
dinary Prayer for the Revival of Religion/' This 
work came into the hands of William Carey, and 
had great influence on his mind. This season of 
awakening also gave birth to the first missionary 
hymns. Watts's grand hymn paraphrasing the 72d 
Psalm, "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun," was 
written in 1719, Williams's "O'er the glowing 
hills" in 1722, and Shrubsole's "Arm of the Lord" 

about the same time. 

87 



Foreign Missions of the 



CHAPTER VII 
Formation of British Missionary Societies 

baptist missionary society 

It was in 1784 that action was taken which may 
fairly be considered as inaugurating the modern era 
of Protestant Missions. This was at Nottingham, 
at a meeting of the Associate Baptist Churches, 
when John SutclifT, minister of Olney, moved to 
arrange for meetings to "earnestly implore a re- 
vival of our churches and of the general cause of 
our Redeemer." In the plan, which was drawn 
up by John Ryland, Jr., of Northampton, other 
Christian societies were cordially invited to join, 
and "the spread of the gospel to the most distant 
parts of the habitable globe" was named as "the 
object of your most fervent requests." 

In 1780 William Carey (born in Paulerspury, 
Eng.. Aug. 17, 1 761) was baptized by Ryland in 
the river Nen. In 1781 this journeyman shoemaker 
united with eight others to form the Baptist church 
in the hamlet of Hackleton. There he preached 
his first sermon, and in 1787 he was ordained by 
Andrew Fuller to the ministry at Moulton village. 
He was constantly pondering on the state of the 
heathen, and longing to go as a missionary to 
Otaheite, 



Protestant Churches 

In 1792 the Baptist Missionary Society was 
formed at Kettering and Carey was its first mis- 
sionary. At the meeting on October 2 Carey had 
preached from Isaiah liv, 2, 3, laying down his two 
great mottoes, "Expect great things from God," 
"Attempt great things for God." Retiring to the 
little parlor of the widow Beeby Wallis, twelve 
ministers subscribed £13, 2s. 6d. and organized what 
they then named "The Particular Baptist Society for 
Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen.'' 
November 10 of the next year, 1793, Carey, with 
Mr. Thomas, formerly a surgeon on an East Indian 
ship, landed at Calcutta, notwithstanding the op- 
position of the East India Company. India had by 
that time become, under Lord Cornwallis, virtually 
a Christian empire. Carey undertook to live on the 
self-support system of the Moravian brotherhood, 
but in tropical India the attempt to preach and sup- 
port himself and family by his own labor was dis- 
astrous, and they were in danger of starvation. He 
then engaged in the manufacture of indigo at Dinaj- 
pore, and spent five years in perfecting his knowl- 
edge of Bengalee — of which he wrote a grammar 
and into which he translated the New Testament 
— learned Sanskrit, established a printing press, and 
planned new missions, all at his own cost. His first 
converts were chiefly European officials, and he 
formed a church. Four colleagues arrived in 1799, 
of whom Marshman and Ward became imperish- 
ably associated with Carey as the pioneer mission- 

89 



Foreign Missions of the 

aries of India. They were established at Serampore, 
on the north bank of the Hoogly, fourteen miles 
above Calcutta. This became the fountain of life 
and light for all Southern Asia. The three fam- 
ilies lived at the same table, at a cost of a little over 
five hundred dollars a year. When Ward died, a 
son of Marshman, and Mack, a young Scotchman 
from Edinburgh University, joined the missionary 
partnership. In the half century ending in 1854 
this brotherhood had contributed nearly four hun- 
dred and fifty thousand dollars to the mission. It 
held all the property, created by its own energies, 
in trust on behalf of the Society. The success 
achieved enabled it to raise large sums which were 
devoted to missions elsewhere. 

When Carey was left the sole survivor of the five 
who had formed the Society their successors would 
not continue the work on their plans. Serampore 
Mission separated from the Society and aided by 
Christians in various lands carried on Bible trans- 
lation, opened new evangelizing stations, and es- 
tablished a college to train missionaries and to 
educate Brahmans and Mohammedans under Chris- 
tian auspices. The financial burden proved too 
great, but John Marshman redeemed all their 
pledges and made over their property to the So- 
ciety. This he afterwards bought back. He con- 
tinued his work until 1854, and his successors until 

Before Carey's death, in 1834, the whole Bible 
90 



Protestant Churches 

had been translated into forty languages and dia- 
lects, and the sacred books of the Hindus into Eng- 
lish. Dr. Marshman also translated the Bible into 
Chinese, prepared a Chinese grammar and diction- 
ary, and translated some of the works of Confu- 
cius into English. When the mission press at 
Serampore was destroyed by fire, in 1812, so great 
were the interest and enthusiasm at home for the 
work that £10,000 was raised within fifty days and 
sent on to Serampore. In 18 10 the stations in India 
were organized into five missions. By 1813 there 
were twenty stations, with 63 European and native 
laborers. In 1829 the Serampore College was estab- 
lished under a charter from the Danish government. 
Among the other results of the labors in India of 
Carey, Marshman and Ward, and their associates, 
may be mentioned the first large printing-press, 
paper mill and steam engine; the first vernacular 
paper in Bengali; the first savings bank, and the 
first efforts for the education of native girls and 
women. 

The mission in Ceylon, whose work has been 
chiefly educational, was opened in 181 2. It has 
stations at Colombo, Ratnapuri and Kandy, with 
thousands of children in day schools and Sunday- 
schools. 

In 181 3 the Society began work in the West 
Indies, being moved thereto by Moses Baker, a fol- 
lower of George Liele, a colored man from Georgia, 

who had formed congregations of slaves at Kings- 

91 



Foreign Missions of the 

ton and other places. After Mr. Liele's death Mr. 
Baker applied to the Baptist Missionary Society 
for aid and the Rev. Mr. Rowe was sent out, on 
the advice of Mr. Wilberforce. In 1817 Rev. 
James Coultart settled in Kingston, and soon gath- 
ered a large and flourishing church. By 183 1 
there were 14 English missionaries on the island, 
who had in charge 24 churches, with 10,838 com- 
municants. In that year the slaves rose against 
their masters; and the missionaries, who had done 
all in their power to quiet the natives and prevent 
an insurrection, were arrested and threatened with 
death, but when brought to trial were acquitted. 
Some chapels were destroyed by mobs, and Mr. 
Knibb was sent to England to secure redress. His 
speeches in favor of the abolition of slavery, awak- 
ening a hearty response from the Baptists of Eng- 
land, were instrumental in bringing about that 
result. The government granted £5,510 for the de- 
stroyed chapels, and Christian people added £13,000. 
The work was renewed, and carried on with such 
success that in 1842, the jubilee year of the Society, 
the churches assumed full self-support. The college 
at Calabar (Kingston), which was opened in 1818, 
is still maintained. 

From 1842 to 1882 the Society carried on a very 
successful mission on the West Coast of Africa — 
forming churches, translating books, etc. Owing 
to the establishment of German colonization on 

the west coast the mission was transferred to the 

92 



Protestant Churches 

Basle Missionary Society in 1880. In 1877 work 
was begun on the Upper and Lower Congo; and 
although many deaths have occurred, and the mis- 
sion premises at Stanley Pool were destroyed by 
fire in 1886, the work is going forward with much 
promise. 

The Society commenced work in Europe in 1834, 
and carries it on at present in France, Norway and 
Italy. 

After several attempts it established a mission in 
China in 1877, which is carrying on vigorous work 
in Shansi and Shantung. Its work in Japan began 
in 1879, and its mission to Palestine in 1880. 

Its latest statistics show 807 stations ; mission- 
aries, 164 men, 114 women; native helpers, 403; 
communicants, 19,269, this number being less than 
normal owing largely to disastrous floods in Shan- 
tung, North China; 1,790 additions last year; 
14,699 pupils under instruction ; income in Great 
Britain, $376,657. 

SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL 

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 
Foreign Parts was chartered in 1701 by King 
William III. It consisted of 96 members, including 
the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the 
Bishops of London and Ely. The charter defined 
its purposes to be "receiving, managing and dis- 
pensing of funds contributed for the religious in- 
struction of the queen's subjects beyond the seas; 

93 



Foreign Missions of the 

for the maintenance of clergymen in the planta- 
tions, colonies and factories of Great Britain, and 
for the propagation of the gospel in those parts/' 
Its first work was among settlements of English 
people in Moscow and Archangel, which was soon 
followed by work in North America, the West 
Indies and other colonies. 

Its first effort at distinctive foreign missionary 
work was the foundation of a missionary college 
at Calcutta, in behalf of which a royal letter was 
issued by the Prince Regent, in 1818, authorizing a 
general collection, the proceeds of which amounted 
to £45,747. The original object of this college was 
to educate native East Indian and European young 
men for the service of the church. While the work- 
ing of the college was in some respects unsatis- 
factory it yielded some good results through the 
missions which were established under the care of 
its graduates, and which embraced 113 villages, 
with 26 chapels and 7 schools. After many disap- 
pointments, it is now giving great encouragement 
in sending forth well-qualified graduates from eight 
distinct races, in being an effective instrument of 
Christian education in Bengal, and in promoting 
evangelistic work in the neighborhood of Calcutta. 

The Society opened a mission in Cawnpore in 
1 84 1, and in Delhi in 1852, both of which suffered 
severely in the mutiny of 1857 — the Delhi mission 
being obliterated; but it was reorganized in i860. 
In 1877 the University of Cambridge undertook to 

94 



Protestant Churches 

maintain a body of men who would live and work 
together in some city in India, and Delhi was fixed 
upon for the experiment; this Society undertaking 
the maintenance of most of these Cambridge vol- 
unteers. 

In 1869 the Society took over the work of Pastor 
Gossner, of Berlin, in the Chutia Nagpore mission, 
with 17,000 Kol converts, scattered in 300 villages, 
which were divided into 35 circles, each with a 
native "reader" having immediate supervision of 
the converts, who also had periodical visits from 
the chief missionary. 

In 1835, having taken up some years previously 
the work of the Christian Knowledge Society in 
Madras, it constituted a bishopric with its headquar- 
ters in that city but embracing the work among the 
Telugus and that at Tan j ore, Tinnevelli, and other 
centers. 

Although the Society began work in Bombay 
in 1836 it was of little importance until Bishop 
Douglas, in 1869, laid out a plan for a chain of 
mission stations, of which Poona, Kolapore and 
Ahmednuggur were chief. Since that time the 
work has been very prosperous. 

Ceylon was entered in 1838 and Burma in 1859. 
It has missions also in various portions of the 
Straits Settlements and in Borneo. 

It commenced work in Japan in 1873, in North 
China in 1874, and in Korea in 1889. 

Work in South Africa was begun in 1820, and 
95 



Foreign Missions of the 

includes, as in other countries, both pastoral care of 
English colonists and evangelistic work among the 
natives. It now numbers thousands of converts 
among the Kaffirs and other tribes ; and gives much 
attention to education, and especially to industrial 
work, teaching the boys carpentry, wagon-making, 
blacksmithing, tinsmithing, and gardening, and the 
girls household work. It also has a diocese of 
Mauritius, including many surrounding islands of 
the Indian Ocean. It began work in Madagascar in 
1864, and set apart a bishop for it in 1874. 

The work in Australia, begun in 1795, now has 
12 dioceses, two of which are self-supporting. The 
work in New Zealand, begun in 1837, has six dio- 
ceses, independent of England. 

That the extreme high-churchism of this Society 
prevents it from coming into harmony and active 
co-operation with the great body of Protestant mis- 
sionary workers is much to be regretted. While 
there are some notable exceptions, in general its 
missionaries hold aloof from those of other denom- 
inations, and are in marked contrast in this respect 
with the workers of the Church Missionary Society. 
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel re- 
ports for 1899, 500 stations; 4,000 outstations; mis- 
sionaries — 611 men, 170 women; 3,326 native help- 
ers; 70,000 communicants; 38,000 pupils under 
instruction; income in Great Britain, $661,775. 
The Women's Mission Association reports an in- 
come of $41,793. 

96 



Protestant Churches 

london missionary society 

The London Missionary Society grew out of an 
invitation sent by Dr. Ryland, a member of the 
Baptist Missionary Committee, to Dr. David Bogue, 
a Presbyterian minister, and Mr. Stephen, his 
friends, to come and listen to the reading of the 
first letters received from the missionaries Carey 
and Thomas. With the object of organizing a 
society for non-Baptists Dr. Bogue wrote an "ad- 
dress to professors of the gospel," exhorting them 
to earnest prayer and conversation and to consulta- 
tion in regard to missions to the heathen, and ask- 
ing an annual subscription to send out twenty or 
thirty missionaries. This address was published in 
the Evangelical Magazine in September, 1794, and 
awakened such great interest in England and Scot- 
land that a meeting was agreed upon to provide 
for the formation of a society on the 4th of Novem- 
ber, when ministers of various denominations met, 
and sent out a circular in January, 1795, proposing 
the organization of a society. Ministers made known 
the plan to their congregations, and delegates were 
appointed to a convention to be held for that purpose 
in September. A preliminary meeting of ministers 
was held on the evening of the 20th. On the 21st, 
in the Spa Fields chapel, Dr. Haweis, of Aldwinkle, 
preached a stirring sermon on the Great Commis- 
sion; after which the ministers and laymen ad- 
journed to the "Castle and Falcon," on Aldersgate 
(7) 97 



Foreign Missions of the 

street, and formed what was then called "The 
Missionary Society." The three following days 
were occupied with missionary meetings in different 
parts of the city. Christians of all denominations 
were meeting together, singing the praises of God, 
joining in hearty prayer for the spread of the gos- 
pel, and receiving a baptism of missionary zeal and 
consecration. 

"The Missionary Society" at the outset received 
much support from Presbyterians and Episco- 
palians, but gradually they in the main withdrew 
to work through organizations connected with 
their own churches, leaving the Society to be car- 
ried on mostly by the Independents or Congrega- 
tionalists; but it still holds to its original declara- 
tion: "That its design is not to send Presbyterianism, 
Independency, Episcopacy, or any other form of 
church order and government (about which there 
may be difference of opinion among serious per- 
sons), but the glorious gospel of the blessed God to 
the heathen, and that it shall be left (as it ought to 
be left) to the minds of the persons whom God may 
call into the fellowship of his Son from among them 
to assume for themselves such form of church 
government as to them shall appear most agreeable 
to the Word of God." The condition of member- 
ship in the Society is an annual payment of one 
guinea. A general meeting of the Society is held 
in the month of May in each year, at which directors 

and officers are elected; and all matters are deter- 

98 



Protestant Churches 

mined by a majority vote of the members present 
The management is by a Board of Directors not 
more than one third of whom reside in or near 
London. 

In August, 1796, the ship Duff with twenty-nine 
missionaries sailed for Tahiti. In the same year 
this Society joined with two Scotch societies in 
sending an expedition to Sierra Leone, which how- 
ever met with no success. Dr. Vanderkemp and 
some others were sent to South Africa in December 
of the same year. A missionary was sent to Cal- 
cutta in 1798, but the mission in India was not 
definitely organized until 1804, when Messrs. 
Ringeltaube, Cran and DesGranges were stationed 
at Vizagapatam and Travancore, and Mr. Voss at 
Colombo, Ceylon. The North India Mission was 
established in 18 16. Some help was sent to the 
West Indies in 1807, which resulted in founding 
a mission at Demarara, which was afterward ex- 
tended to British Guiana and to Jamaica. The 
mission to Mauritius was opened in 18 14, and in 
18 18 the work in Madagascar began, which had a 
career of wonderful success and whose history is 
among the most interesting of all missionary annals. 
In the same year work was opened in Siberia and 
Tartary; but it was closed by a Russian edict in 
1840. 

Robert Morrison, the first of a noble line of mis- 
sionaries to China, was sent out in 1807, and was 
obliged to come to New York to secure passage, 



Foreign Missions of the 

owing to the opposition of the East India Company 
to the beginning of missionary work in China. 

In subsequent years the missions thus opened 
were reinforced and strengthened from time to 
time, but no new work was opened until 1879, when 
the Society responded to a call from the Dark Con- 
tinent and established a mission at Lake Tangan- 
yika, made sacred by the memories of Livingstone. 

This Society, like the American Board of Com- 
missioners for Foreign Missions, gradually lost its 
interdenominational character. The Church Mis- 
sionary Society, formed in 1799, took off the evan- 
gelical churchmen. In 18 14 the Wesleyan Metho- 
dist Society was organized, and later the 
Presbyterian societies drew off that element of the 
constituency; for many years it has been almost 
wholly sustained by Congregationalists or Inde- 
pendents. It has been a great pioneer society, a 
leader in the South Sea, in China, in Africa and 
Madagascar. Its roll contains many of the most 
eminent names in missionary history, such as those 
of John Williams, of Erromanga ; Robert Morrison 
and William H. Medhurst of China ; John Vander- 
kemp, Robert and Mary Moffat and David Living- 
stone, of Africa. At first many of the missionaries 
sent out were artisans, without scholastic training; 
but this mistake was not long continued, and in 
later years the missionaries of this Society have been 
noted for scholarly attainments as well as for con- 
secrated service. 

100 



Protestant Churches 

The latest statistics of the London Missionary 
Society show 97 stations; 1,260 outstations; mis- 
sionaries — 196 men, 226 women; 5,240 native 
helpers; 52,803 communicants, of whom 1,817 were 
added last year; 50,613 pupils under instruction; 
income in Great Britain, $666,526. 

CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

The Church Missionary Society owes its origin 
to a meeting of sixteen clergymen at the "Castle 
and Falcon," London, April 16. 1799. who organ- 
ized the "Society for [Missions to Africa and the 
East;" its object being to take the gospel to Mo- 
hammedans and heathen, the Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel having sent missionaries 
only to British colonies. In 1812 it changed its 
name to "The Church Missionary Society for Af- 
rica and the East." in order to indicate its connec- 
tion with the established church, but distinctly 
avowed its purpose to maintain friendly intercourse 
with other Protestant Societies engaged in the same 
work; and it has ever remained "remarkable not 
only for this brotherly co-operation and honor, but 
also for its evangelical large-heartedness, its sound 
principles of method and its excellent government 
and organization at home and abroad.'' It is con- 
ducted by a Patron, always a member of the Royal 
Family; a Vice Patron, the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury ; a President, who must be a layman ; a Vice 
President, usually a clergyman, and a committee 

IQI 



Foreign Missions of the 

of twenty-four laymen and all the clergymen who 
have been for one year or more members of the 
Society. 

Its first missionaries were sent to West Africa, 
and the foundations of the work in Sierra Leone 
were laid in 1816. Work began in New Zealand 
in 1 8 14, in the Levant in 181 5, in India in 18 16, in 
Ceylon in 1817; work among the North American 
Indians in 1826, in East Africa in 1844, m China in 
1845, m Mauritius in 1854, and in Japan in 1869. 
This also has been a great pioneer Society, espe- 
cially in Africa, America and New Zealand ; and has 
been particularly active in work among Moham- 
medans. Its income is usually more than that of 
any other Society, and it has had a notable list of 
workers — prominent among whom are Selwyn, 
Hannington, Mackay, Crowther, French, Burden 
and Moule. Since 1887 it has sent out all properly 
qualified candidates, without regard to the state of 
its finances, and it has been remarkably successful 
in following this policy. 

Statistics of the Church Missionary Society for 
1899 show 520 stations; missionaries — 530 men, 
383 women; native helpers, 6,154; communicants, 
64,904, of whom 493 were added last year; pupils 
under instruction, 88,094; income in Great Britain, 
$1,889,135. The Church of England Zenana Mis- 
sionary Society, a woman's organization which acts 
in harmony with the Church Missionary Society, 

reports 72 stations; 221 missionaries; 850 native 

102 



Protestant Churches 

helpers; 10,468 pupils under instruction; income in 
Great Britain, $230,575. 

WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

The Wesleyan Methodist movement was of a mis- 
sionary character from its very inception. As early 
as 1744, through the efforts of Whitefield, special 
hours of prayer were observed for the outpouring 
of the Spirit on Christendom, and upon the "whole 
inhabited earth." John Wesley's first visit to 
America was for the purpose of preaching to the 
Indians. In 1786 Thomas Coke, providentially 
driven out of his course to Nova Scotia, landed in 
the British West Indies, and a mission to the negro 
slaves was at once commenced. He had the charge 
of Wesleyan Missions until 1804, when a Com- 
mittee of three was appointed to oversee the work. 
A mission to West Africa was undertaken in 181 1 ; 
and on Dec. 31, 181 3, Dr. Coke, at the age of 76, 
sailed for Ceylon to found the third Methodist 
mission. He died on his way thither, and found a 
watery grave, but the Wesleyan Methodist Mission 
was organized and has grandly carried on its work. 
It is managed by a Committee appointed annually 
by the Wesleyan Methodist Conference, which also 
elects its general secretaries and treasurers. 

The Society followed up its work in West Africa 

by entering South Africa in 18 14, Xew South Wales 

in 181 5, Tasmania in 1821, Victoria in 1838, 

Queensland in 1850 and China in 1853. Its work 

103 



Foreign Missions of the 

among the Maoris of New Zealand was begun in 
1822, in the Friendly Islands in 1826, and its most 
remarkable and successful work in the Fiji Islands 
in 1834. Of this the Cyclopedia of Missions well 
says: ''There is nothing more wonderful than the 
transformation of these savages through the power 
of the gospel, nothing more touching than their 
readiness to receive and their eagerness to make 
known that gospel to those who know it not." 

The mission to New Britain was an outgrowth 
of the Fiji mission. In 1875 nine of the native 
preachers volunteered to go on this dangerous mis- 
sion. Seven of them were married, and their wives 
gladly joined in their offer. The English consul 
set before them the great hazard of their under- 
taking, to which they replied : "We are all of one 
mind. We know what those islands are. We have 
given ourselves to this work. If we get killed, 
well; if we live, well. We have had everything 
explained to us, and we know the danger. We are 
willing to go." Four of this party were treacher- 
ously murdered and eaten by cannibals. After this 
had happened one of the wives in a new outgoing 
party was asked whether she still purposed to go to 
such a field, and replied : 'T am like the outrigger 
of a canoe — where the canoe goes there you will 
find the outrigger." In 1888 their first missionary 
meetings were held, and £50 contributed to the 
Wesleyan Missionary Society. The work is now 

very prosperous. 

104 



Protestant Churches 

Work was commenced in China in 1852 by the 
Rev. George Piercy, who went out at his own ex- 
pense but was afterward accepted by the Society 
and appointed to Canton. This has developed into 
a very important work in this portion of Southern 
China. 

Statistics for 1899 give 276 stations; 320 out- 
stations; 182 missionaries; 180 native helpers; 
46,262 communicants, of whom 1,622 were added 
last year; 90,117 pupils under instruction; income 
in Great Britain, $557,901. The "Women's Aux- 
iliary" reports 44 stations ; 300 outstations ; 52 mis- 
sionaries; 140 native helpers; 18,254 pupils under 
instruction; income in Great Britain, $66,927. 

ENGLISH PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETY 

The Presbyterian Church of England sent out 
the Rev. William C. Burns, as its first missionary to 
China, in 1847. He labored for four years in Hong 
Kong, Canton, and the neighborhood, but in 185 1 
proceeded to Amoy, where Dr. James Young was 
his medical colleague. In succeeding years many 
excellent missionaries were sent out, prominent 
among whom were the Rev. David Sandeman and 
the Rev. Carstairs Douglas. Their three great 
fields in China are at Amoy, Swatow, and in the 
Hakka country. They also have a flourishing mis- 
sion on the Island of Formosa. Their missionaries 
have worked in great harmony with those of the 

Reformed Church of America, and churches have 

105 



Foreign Missions of the 

been organized, and a Presbytery constituted from 
those attached to both missions. The missions of 
this church are among the most successful of all 
engaged in the work in China. 

Latest reports of the Presbyterian Church in 
England show 75 stations; 120 outstations; mis- 
sionaries — 35 men, 49 women; 156 native helpers; 
5,943 communicants, of whom 477 were added last 
year; income in Great Britain, $117,985. 

SCOTCH PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETY 

The Presbyterian Church of Scotland may justly 
date the beginning of its missionary efforts from 
1699, when four missionaries were sent out to the 
Scotch colony at Darien to supply the vacant places 
of two ministers who went out with the colonists, 
and who had died. In 1825 the General Assembly 
appointed its first Foreign Mission Committee, 
consisting of ten able men. The departure of Alex- 
ander Duff for Calcutta in 1829 greatly stimulated 
the missionary ardor of the church. The seminary 
commenced by Dr. Duff in 1830 became a great 
educational institution in which all the instruction 
was brought to bear on the religious well-being of 
the students. The high quality of its education 
broke down the prejudices of many Hindus against 
its religious teachings, and it has proved itself a 
great power in the progress of Christianity in India. 

In 1835 the General Assembly took over the work 

of the old Scottish Missionary Society which had 

106 



Protestant Churches 

been founded in 1822. Drs. John Wilson and J. 
Murray Mitchell and other laborers had been trying 
since 1828 to do the same kind of work in Bombay 
and Poona that Dr. Duff was doing in Calcutta. 
The transfer of the mission developed the English 
school at Bombay into a missionary college, where 
the first Parsee converts were brought to Christ, 
and many educated Brahmans were won over 
to faith in Christianity. Among these the names 
of Rev. Dhanjibhai Naoroji, a Parsee, and Rev. 
Narayan Sheshadri, are reckoned as those of two of 
the most efficient and successful of native ministers. 

Dr. Duff's stirring appeal in the General Assem- 
bly of 1837 led to the founding of the mission in 
Madras by the Rev. John Anderson, which has been 
very successful. 

The disruption of the Church of Scotland oc- 
curred in 1843, sm ce which time we must reckon 
both the Established and the Free Church of Scot- 
land among the great missionary factors of the cen- 
tury. The Established Church had much property 
in India, but nearly all the missionaries went into 
the Free Church. The Established Church carried 
on its institutions and its work in the presidencies of 
Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, giving much atten- 
tion to the work of higher education. A mission in 
the Punjab was opened in 1857. Its mission in 
Gujerat has been very successful, though at the 
outset one of the missionaries, the Rev. Thomas 

Hunter, his wife and infant child were shot at the 

107 



Foreign Missions of the 

time of the mutiny. Missionaries were sent to 
Darjeeling in 1870 who have since been reinforced, 
and much good work is in hand. 

Work was begun in Africa in 1874, growing out 
of the news of Livingstone's death and Mr. Stan- 
ley's letter from Uganda; and in 1877 a mission 
was started at Ichang, in the interior of China. The 
Society also has Jewish missions in Egypt, Beirut, 
Constantinople and other regions. It has many ex- 
cellent workers, and is recognized as one of the 
great missionary agencies of our time. 

Church of Scotland statistics show 21 stations; 
yy outstations; European missionaries — 44 men, 85 
women ; 537 native helpers ; 2,334 communicants, of 
whom 251 were added last year; 5,957 pupils under 
instruction, income in Great Britain, $188,035. 
The Women's Association reports income in Great 
Britain, $71,624. 

THE METHODIST NEW CONNEXION MISSIONARY 
SOCIETY 

This is the oldest of the divisions of Wesleyan 

Methodism in England, having been organized in 

1797. Its attention was early called to the needs 

of Ireland and Canada, and it began a mission in 

Ireland in 1825 and one in Canada in 1835. Its 

heathen mission was established in China in 1859. 

Work was begun in Shanghai and subsequently 

removed to Tientsin, in North China. This is the 

only foreign mission the denomination has. A 

108 



Protestant Churches 

strong native agency has been developed in connec- 
tion with the mission, and it has been the policy of 
the society to raise up a force of native teachers 
and preachers. 

A farmer from a distant town came to the chapel 
service in Tientsin one day and remained at the after 
meeting, where he said he had come to the city in 
obedience to a dream. He became a convert, and 
on his return to his own neighborhood began a 
gospel work which led to a great awakening and a 
new center of Christian influence was established. 

IRISH PRESBYTERIAN FOREIGN MISSIONS 

The Presbyterian Church of Ireland was organ- 
ized in 1840, and one of the first things it did was 
to call upon two men to go out to India to form a 
mission. They had not offered to go, but the 
Church deemed it had a right to ask them to go, 
and it was set down as a precedent for all time to 
come. Besides the India work, with its seven 
stations in the Gujerat district, the Church has a 
mission in Manchuria, China, with stations at New- 
chang, Kinchan, and Kirin, and missions among 
the Jews. It has in all 19 stations and 1,960 com- 
municants. Its income in 1899 was nearly $101,000 

FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE WELSH CALVINISTIC 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

The Calvinistic Presbyterians or Methodists be- 
gan to contribute to the London Missionary Society 

109 



Foreign Missions of the 

soon after it was established. In 1840 it established 
a missionary society of its own. Its first field was 
in Bengal, India. The work there covers seven 
districts, and is chiefly in the hills. The second 
mission was begun in Brittany, France, in 1842. 
The Society received $46,839 in 1898, when it 
reported 3,231 communicants in its two fields. 

THE PRIMITIVE METHODIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

The Missionary Society organized by the Prim- 
itive Methodists of England, dating from 1843, 
was for many years engaged in home and colonial 
work only. 

It planted churches of its order in Australia, New 
Zealand and Canada. In 1870 it sent two mission- 
aries to the Spanish Island of Fernando Po. A 
devoted Primitive Methodist captain and carpenter 
of a trading vessel had become interested in the 
people during a brief stay at the island, and induced 
the Society to take steps to evangelize the people, 
some of whom were Baptists. The mission has 
grown despite determined Roman Catholic oppo- 
sition. 

A second mission, at AHwal, in Cape Colony, 

was begun in 1870. It is among the natives. In 

1889 missionaries were sent out to establish a 

mission on the Zambesi River. The Society has 

1,256 communicants in connection with its foreign 

missions, and raises about $35,000 a year for their 

support. 

no 



Protestant Churches 

south american missionary society 

The history of the founding of this Society par- 
takes largely of the heroic if not the romantic in 
missions. Captain Allen Gardiner, its founder, 
was a man of means who was thoroughly devoted 
to the cause of missions. With his wife and 
family he visited many countries with the object 
of finding the "most abandoned heathen" on earth 
and becoming a pioneer Christian missionary to 
them. Finally, he settled on the natives of South 
America as, at all events, sufficiently "abandoned" 
for his purpose and tried to reach some of the 
mountain tribes, but his efforts were frustrated by 
the Roman Catholic priesthood. Then he turned 
his attention to Patagonia, where the Church of 
Rome was not represented, and in 1844 ne organ- 
ized the "Patagonian Missionary Society." Soon 
after he and a few others attempted to establish a 
mission in Tierra del Fuego, without success. The 
Society was discouraged, but Captain Gardiner was 
determined to persevere. He seems to have been 
formed for the purpose of battling with adverse 
circumstances. A thousand pounds was raised, 
of which nearly a third was given by Captain 
Gardiner himself, and in 1850 he started again, 
with a surgeon, a carpenter, three Cornish fishermen 
and one other — all devoted Christian men who re- 
alized the desperate nature of their venture. They 

were left with their boats in a harbor of Tierra del 

in 



Foreign Missions of the 

Fuego, on which they were to live because of the 
violent and thieving nature of the people. Nine 
months of misfortune and disaster followed, 
scarcely equaled in the annals of Arctic exploration. 
In a heavy storm they lost an anchor and both of 
their small boats for landing. Then they discovered 
that the supply of powder and shot, which they were 
to use to supply themselves with game and de- 
fend themselves from the natives, had by some over- 
sight gone on to San Francisco in the ship which 
brought them. Another storm destroyed one of 
their two vessels. With the remaining vessel they 
made another harbor, where they all finally perished. 
The relief expedition arrived too late, and only 
found the remains of two of the men, including 
Captain Gardiner, and their journals. 

The details of the sufferings and death of 
these heroic missionaries did what Gardiner could 
not do while he was living, roused a strong interest 
in South American missionary effort. The Society 
was re-formed, as the South American Missionary 
Society, on Mr. Gardiner's plan, with one of the 
West Falkland Islands as a station, whence com- 
munication could be had with Tierra del Fuego. 
Another attempt was made in 1856, with success. 
Fuegians were induced to come to the Falklands, 
a few at a time, and there received Christian in- 
struction, and at the same time imparted a 
knowledge of the Fuegian tongue to the mission- 
aries. 

112 



Protestant Churches 

The Society has work not only among the Fue- 
gians and other natives of South America, but in 
accordance with Captain Gardiner's plan has mis- 
sions to English and to Spanish- and Portuguese- 
speaking peoples. Missions on the East Coast are 
in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil, on 
the West Coast in Chili. 

The income of the Society is about $56,000 a 
year. It is supported by Church of England people. 

THE FRIENDS' FOREIGN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION 

The Friends of England claim a long and con- 
sistent record as friends of foreign missions. In 
the clays of George Fox they sent missionaries to 
China and to Prester John's country, and on subse- 
quent occasions Friends have done mission work 
in foreign fields. In 1865 a provisional commit- 
tee was appointed to promote the cause, and in 
the following year the first missionary was sent to 
India. The association now has missions in India, 
Madagascar and China. Industrial schools, day 
schools, zenana visitation, evangelistic and medical 
work are carried on by the missionaries. The 
Friends of England also maintain a medical mission 
in Constantinople, and a Syrian mission for the edu- 
cation of boys and girls. In the latter, the Friends 
of New England bear an important part. 

NORTH AFRICAN MISSION 

Algeria being open, under French occupation, 
to the reception of the gospel, attention was at- 
8 113 



Foreign Missions of the 

tracted to the field, in England, by the visits of 
George Pearce, Mr. H. Grattan Guinness and 
others, 1876- 1880, and a committee was formed 
for the conduct of a mission among the Kabyles. 
The movement is undenominational. The mission 
was begun in 1881, but its progress was slow 
owing to the great difficulties encountered, particu- 
larly with representatives of the French Govern- 
ment. There are stations not only in Algiers, but 
also in Morocco, Tunis, Tripoli, North Arabia. 
The work is among the Berbers, the Bedouins and 
other Moslem tribes. 

CONGO BALOLO MISSION 

This is an undenominational mission established 
in 1889 by Mr. and Mrs. H. Grattan Guinness, of the 
East London Institute. Its sphere of operations 
is in the Balolo country, said to have a population 
of ten millions all of whom speak the same language. 
The country extends beyond Equatorville on the 
south side of the Congo. This mission is a part 
of the work formerly under the direction of the 
Guinnesses, the rest having been transferred to the 
American Baptist Missionary Union. 

UNITED METHODIST FREE CHURCHES MISSIONARY 
SOCIETY 

The United Methodist Free Churches are the 

result of a union of the Wesleyan Association with 

a number of churches of the Wesleyan Reform, 

114 



Protestant Churches 

in 1857. The Missionary Society of the united 
body inherited missions in Jamaica and Australia. 
It has since then opened missions in Sierra Leone, 
West Africa, where it has a considerable body of 
native communicants, and in East Africa, among the 
Wa Nyika race, dwelling about twelve miles from 
the coast of the Indian Ocean. The renowned 
African missionary, Dr. Krapf, assisted in founding 
this enterprise. Attempts have been made also to 
reach the Gallas. The mission has suffered severely 
from loss of missionaries by disease and violence. 

The Society has a mission in China, with head- 
quarters at Ningpo. 

The Society has an income of about $50,000. 
It has 8,651 communicants on its foreign fields, 
a number exceeded by few societies in Great Britain 
and Ireland. 

UNIVERSITIES' MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA 

This mission was the result of appeals by David 
Livingstone and Bishop Gray of Cape Tow r n. 
Archdeacon Mackenzie, of Natal, was consecrated 
Bishop for the mission which was established by 
him at Magomero, south of Lake Nyassa, at the 
suggestion of Dr. Livingstone, among a colony of 
released slaves. The site proved unhealthy, and 
Bishop Tozer, the successor of Bishop Mackenzie, 
removed it to Zanzibar, where released slaves w r ere 
carefully trained. After some years a chain of 
stations was formed from the coast to Lake Nyassa, 

115 



Foreign Missions of the 

and the headquarters of the mission removed to 
Lukama, on the Lake. 

The mission is supported by members of the 
Church of England. Its income in 1898 was some- 
what less than $160,000. 

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY 

This Society was organized in London in 1804, 
on an undenominational basis, to furnish the 
Scriptures to populations in the home field, in the 
colonies and in other countries, whether Christian, 
Mohammedan or pagan. The first foreign branch 
of the society was in Nuremberg, a Roman 
Catholic priest distributing the first consignment 
of 1,000 copies in Suabia. The first foreign edition 
was of John's Gospel in Mohawk and English. 
The Society was especially successful in inducing 
various European countries to organize Bible so- 
cieties of their own. It entered the various mission 
fields of Asia, Africa, North and South America, 
and the islands of the sea, and furnished the Scrip- 
tures or portions of the Scriptures to missionary 
tribes and peoples in their own tongue. It maintains 
many agencies for Bible distribution, and as long 
ago as 1868 its income passed the million mark. 

FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND 

The Free Church of Scotland began work in 1843 
with the advantage of having a mission and a num- 
ber of missionaries in India. Giving up the build- 

116 



Protestant Churches 

ings to the Established Church, however, it be- 
came necessary to purchase new premises and erect 
new buildings ; but these were speedily provided by 
generous contributions, and the school in Calcutta 
opened with a larger number of pupils than ever. 

In 1864 the congregation at Calcutta opened 
a branch mission among the Santhals, in Upper 
Bengal, and established schools at three other 
places. The schools at Bombay, Poona and Madras 
were also carried on successfully. In due time the 
Madras school became the United Christian Col- 
lege for all South India. The medical missions at 
Madras and Conjeveram have been very useful in 
educating native youth as physicians and nurses. 

In 1844 the Free Church took over the Kaffir 

missions from the Glasgow Missionary Society 

and opened a mission in the Nagpur province, in 

the center of India, under Rev. Stephen S. Hislop, 

who found three excellent laymen, survivors of 

the German Missions, who were a great help to him. 

Rev. Robert Hunter inaugurated a second station 

at Kampti. Institutions were established, the chief 

of which was the Hislop Missionary College. In 

1864 the Rev. Narayan Sheshadri, a graduate of 

Wilson College, under the Established Church, 

founded the Deccan Mission in the Mohammedan 

state of Hyderabad. All the colleges are affiliated 

with universities, and train Christian converts for 

service, both in vernacular and English preaching, 

as Presbyterian pastors and missionaries. 

117 



Foreign Missions of the 

The Kaffir mission was begun by the Glasgow 
Missionary Society, which sent out Rev. W. R. 
Thompson and a catechist in 1821. They began at 
a small village on the Chumic river, and baptized 
five Kaffirs in June, 1823. In December of that 
year the Rev. John Ross and wife arrived to rein- 
force the mission. A church, a printing press and 
schools soon made a great change in the habits of 
the natives and awakened a desire for education. 
New stations were established at several churches, 
and when the mission was handed over to the Free 
Church, in 1844, the work was in a prosperous 
condition; with a missionary seminary, valued at 
about $12,500, with 14 theological students, and 
some graduates already engaged in evangelistic 
work. The work continued to grow under the 
new administration until the war of 1846 compelled 
the missionaries to flee — some returning to Scot- 
land, and others going to labor among the colonists 
at Cape Town. On the restoration of peace, in 
1848, the missionaries returned to their posts, the 
seminary was reopened, destroyed property was 
gradually replaced, and in a few years the mission 
was moving successfully in all departments. 

The mission has been divided into two, known 
as the South and North Kaffir missions, divided 
by the great Kei river. In the Lovedale Institu- 
tion, at Alice, of which Rev. J. Stewart, M.D., is 
in charge, the boys are taught farming, carpenter- 
ing, wagon making, printing and bookbinding, 

118 



Protestant Churches 

while the girls are instructed in domestic arts, and 
all receive a good general education and are 
taught the word of God. There is a prosperous 
church at Lovedale, out of which a number of 
other churches have grown. 

The North Kaffir mission has its center at 
Blythewood, with a good institution, and does its 
work mainly among the Fingoes. At its ju- 
bilee, in 1 87 1, 2,000 natives and 1,000 Europeans 
joined in thanksgiving to God. The one station 
of Kaffir huts had grown into 10 great evangelistic 
centers with over 70 outstations. 

Dr. Duff's appeals, after his visit to South Africa, 
led to the establishment of a mission among the 
Zulu Kaffirs of Natal in 1867 — the first stations 
occupied being Pietermaritzburg and Impolweni, 
under the Rev. James Allison, a most devoted mis- 
sionary. The Rev. John Bruce, Rev. James Scott 
and many other faithful laborers followed. In 
1874 the Dowager Countess of Aberdeen made a 
large gift to establish a memorial station in honor 
of her son, the Hon. J. H. Gordon. This was es- 
tablished in Natal, near the border of Zululand, 
and the Rev. J. Dalzell became the efficient mission- 
ary in charge. 

But perhaps the most interesting field of this 

church is East Central Africa, which was opened 

under the appeals of Livingstone. It was named 

the Livingstone Mission and purposed to occupy 

the country around Lake Nyassa. The first settle- 

119 " 



Foreign Missions of the 

ment was made at Cape Maclean, at the south end 
of the lake, by the Rev. James Stewart, C.E., whose 
life was sacrificed, and he was succeeded by the Rev. 
Robert Laws. From this center many places were 
occupied along the west shore of Nyassa, in North 
and South Angoniland, between lakes Nyassa and 
Tanganyika, and in the uplands southwest of Cape 
Maclean. Dr. Laws gained the confidence of the 
people, and gathered large numbers of children into 
schools. The mission has passed through some try- 
ing periods, but has met with much success and is 
well sustained. 

The Free Church commenced work in Syria in 
1872, after a visit by Dr. Duff and Principal Lums- 
den to the mountains of Lebanon. They sent out 
Rev. John Rae and united with the work of the 
Lebanon Schools Society, which had been carried 
on since 1839. They occupied Shevier as their first 
station, and followed with a number of out-stations. 
A Syrian evangelical church has been formed and 
a church building erected. 

This Church has also done a great work in the 
New Hebrides, in connection with other Presby- 
terian Boards of Scotland, Canada, Australia and 
New Zealand. The work began in Aneityum, 
where John Geddie labored successfully and trans- 
lated portions of the Scriptures. He began in 1848, 
and in six years there were 30 schools and 2,600 
people attended public worship. A memorial tablet 

in the church at Anelgahat says : "When he landed 

120 



Protestant Churches 

in 1848 there were no Christians here, and when he 
died in 1872 there were no heathen." 

In Fotuna John Williams succeeded in conciliating 
the people but his death prevented the sending out 
of teachers. Some of the Samoan teachers sent in 
1 84 1 were killed and eaten, but in the face of perse- 
cution the work has been carried on with a good de- 
gree of success, and a medical mission has also been 
established. In Aniwa, in spite of the killing of 
some of the early teachers from Aneityum in 1840 
and succeeding years, the work has prospered, and 
in 1866 J. G. Paton found a people prepared to 
listen to his teachings. The mission house was 
erected on a site which had been devoted to cannibal 
feasts. In eight years the island was completely 
Christianized. 

Tanna was a very trying field for many 
years. The native teachers of John Williams 
were obliged to flee; and Turner and Nesbit, 
of the London Missionary Society, barely escaped 
with their lives in 1843. From that time until 1858 
Samoan teachers tried to introduce the gospel in 
the midst of severe opposition. In the latter year 
John Paton and Mr. Copeland landed on the island 
and were soon joined by others; and in later years 
the mission has been very successful. Erromanga 
is known for the martyrdom of Williams and of 
others who followed him. Rev. G. N. Gordon, 
of Nova Scotia, went out in 1857, and did much ef- 
fective work for four years, but he and his wife 

121 



Foreign Missions of the 

were murdered in 1861, the superstitions of the 
natives having been awakened by a series of 
calamities. His brother, J. D. Gordon, succeeded 
him in 1864, and Mr. J. McNair followed in 1868. 
Mr. Gordon was treacherously murdered by a native 
in 1872. Here also the gospel has won many 
trophies in recent years. The New Hebrides Mission 
Synod has supreme authority in all general eccle- 
siastical matters. 

Work in South Arabia was commenced in 1885 
by the Hon. Ion and Mrs. Keith-Falconer, who 
settled at Sheik-Othwan for work among Moham- 
medans and Somalis in the neighborhood of Aden. 
The Gommittee of the Free Church agreed to ap- 
point Dr. B. vStewart Cowan as a medical mission- 
ary in 1886, but the mission is conducted as un- 
denominational. Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer died in 
1887, and was buried in the cemetery of Aden 
Camp, but immediately thereafter the Countess 
Dowager of Kintore and Mrs. Keith-Falconer each 
guaranteed £300 a year for the support of two mis- 
sionaries, and in a few years the mission was fully 
equipped. Progress, though slow, is not without 
encouragement. 

The statistics of the Free Church show 45 stations ; 
304 out-stations; missionaries — 127 men, 135 wom- 
en; 1,149 native helpers; 10,977 communicants, of 
whom 395 were added last year; 35,298 pupils under 
instruction; income in Great Britain, $254,570. 

The Women's Society reports an income of $79,680, 

122 



Protestant Churches 



UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

The United Presbyterian Church of Scotland 
was formed in 1847 from bodies that had seceded 
from the Established Church and were known as 
the "Secession Church" and the "Relief Church." 
Missionaries were sent out from Scotland early 
in this century by the Scottish Missionary Society 
and the Glasgow Missionary Society. The first 
Scotch missionary to the heathen was Peter Greig, 
who went to South Africa, and who belonged to one 
of the churches which formed the United Presby- 
terian Church. 

Its work has been in the West Indies, where it 
took up the mission which had been opened by Rev. 
George Blyth and others of the Scottish Missionary 
Society, followed in 1835 by Rev. James Paterson 
and others of the United Secession Church. Sta- 
tions were opened and vigorous missionary work 
was carried on in Jamaica and surrounding regions, 
and in 1846 the negroes had been raised from their 
degradation, and were already sending out mission- 
aries to West Africa. The work has continued to 
be successful. There are about 50 ordained min- 
isters, about half of whom are natives, and over 
12,000 members. Trinidad was entered in 1835 
by Rev. Alexander Kennedy, and the work has been 
prosecuted with increasing success until the present 
time. 

The work of this society in Africa has centered 
123 



Foreign Missions of the 

at two stations : i . Old Calabar, where the Rev. 
H. M. Waddell and other missionaries were sent 
by the Jamaica Negroes in 1846, and found the 
kings and people somewhat civilized, with consider- 
able knowledge of English. The printing press was 
soon introduced and the Bible translated, and the 
work has been maintained with much success. 
2. Kaffraria, where work was begun by the Glasgow 
Missionary Society a portion of which came under 
the Free Church, in 1844, and the remainder under 
the United Presbyterian Church in 1847. The 
ravages of war have interfered with mission work, 
but the ground has been held until over 3,000 mem- 
bers have been received into the churches. 

In India this Church has carried on work in Raj- 
pootana and its feudatory states since i860, and has 
been very prosperous. The self-denying labors of 
William and Gavin Martin during the famine of 

1869 had a wonderful effect upon the people, and 
gave them great confidence in the missionaries. A 
mission press is established at Ajmere, and the 
work is constantly growing. 

In China, Manchuria has been the field of labor 
— first by a medical missionary at Ningpo, and after 

1870 by Rev. Dr. Alexander Williamson at Chefoo. 
Rev. John Ross and Rev. John Macintyre began 
the work in Manchuria in 1873, and the entire mis- 
sion was concentrated in that field in 1885, where 
it has met with a large measure of success. 

The Church sent out its first missionaries to 
124 



Protestant Churches 

Japan in 1863. It united with other bodies of 
Presbyterian polity in forming the "Church- of 
Christ in Japan," which has had a rapid growth, 
and carries on very effective educational and evan- 
gelistic work. 

Statistics of the United Presbyterian Church 
show 114 stations; 268 out-stations; European mis- 
sionaries — 93 men, 43 women; 881 native helpers; 
26,971 communicants; 21,070 pupils under instruc- 
tion; income in Scotland, $305,186. 

CHINA INLAND MISSION 

This Society was formed in England in response 
to appeals of Mr. J. Hudson Taylor for the unoc- 
cupied provinces of the great Chinese Empire, par- 
ticularly the inland provinces. Mr. Taylor had 
spent several years in missionary work in China, 
having been sent out by the Chinese Evangelization 
Society. After some years of service he separated 
from that Society because of difference in views, 
but continued his work independently. He returned 
to England in i860, impressed with the feeling that 
the great need of China could not be met unless a 
large force of evangelists could be put into the field. 
He sent out several young men in the next few 
years to labor on this plan, their expenses only be- 
ing provided. He published a little book in which 
the needs of China were set forth so convincingly 
that a society was formed, and he himself with 

several volunteers sailed for the field in 1866. At 

125 



Foreign Missions of the 

first the home organization was exceedingly 
simple; one man acted as treasurer and printed an 
occasional paper. Then a small council was formed 
and honorary secretaries did the necessary work. 
Later a resident secretary was appointed, and the 
staff was gradually increased as the work grew. 

The first stations in China were in the provinces 
of Chekiang, Kiang-su, Ngan-hwuy, and Kiang-si. 
At the end of the first ten years there were 44 mis- 
sionaries, including their wives, assisted by 70 na- 
tive helpers and six Bible women. In 1886, when 
the Mission had been in operation twenty years, it 
had stations in eleven provinces not one of which 
had any Protestant missions in 1865, before the 
society began its labors, and in seven other pro- 
vinces. The number of its missionaries was 152, 
not including wives. As the occupation of new 
stations was apt to be accompanied with riotous 
attacks upon the missionaries the plan of visiting 
a place several times before occupying it was 
adopted, to allow the people to become familiar with 
the missionaries. The result was, it is said, quite 
satisfactory. 

The Mission, according to its latest reports, has 
149 stations and 169 out-stations, with 323 male 
and 450 female missionaries, and 605 native helpers. 
The number of communicants is 7,147. The 
annual income of the society is about $190,000. 

On arrival in the field new workers are sent to 

one of the training schools maintained by the Mis- 

126 



Protestant Churches 

sion, and are there prepared for their work, serv- 
ing as probationers. From the training school 
they go to a station and continue their studies 
under direction of the senior missionaries. A 
course of study divided into six sections is laid 
down. If all goes well, and the probationer gives 
promise of usefulness, he is accepted at the end of 
two years as a junior missionary, and becomes as- 
sistant to a missionary on a district. At the end 
of five years he is eligible to appointment as a 
senior missionary if he passes the examinations 
satisfactorily. Several districts are grouped under 
the supervision of a superintendent who may call 
the senior missionaries of his district together at 
any time for counsel. The superintendents are 
members of the general council of the Mission, 
which has quarterly conferences. No promise of 
salary is made to the missionaries, many of whom 
are possessed of sufficient means of their own or 
are supported by friends. The treasurer in China 
receives remittances from time to time from Lon- 
don and Toronto and supplies the needs of those 
who have no other provision, the funds being 
divided pro rata. Sometimes the funds are in- 
adequate, in which case the missionaries have to get 
along as best they can. 

The Mission is supported by. voluntary contri- 
butions, no personal solicitations or collections 
being made. Among the supnorters are members 

of various denominations. The direction of the 

127 



Foreign Missions of the 

work is solely in the hands of the missionaries on 
the field. 

OTHER SOCIETIES IN GREAT BRITAIN 

There are many other societies in England and 
Scotland which are interested either directly or in- 
directly in foreign missions. Some are small and 
have no particular history. There are sixteen 
foreign missionary societies, besides those already 
described, fourteen colonial and continental so- 
cieties, three medical missions, seven tract and 
Bible societies, and thirteen missions to the Jews. 
The aggregate receipts of all these societies in 1898 
were over $1,000,000. 

The combined statistics of the Protestant Mis- 
sionary Societies of Great Britain, as given in the 
Almanac of Missions for 1900, published by the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
Missions, are as follows: 3,370 stations; 7,565 out- 
stations; European missionaries — 2,816 men, 2,557 
women; 22,191 native helpers; 372,195 communi- 
cants; 13,278 added last year; 448,362 pupils under 

instruction; income in Great Britain, $7,766,740. 

128 



Protestant Churches 



CHAPTER VIII 

Continental Missionary Societies 

basle missionary society 

This is the oldest of the missionary societies of 
Germany, excepting, of course, the Moravian 
Church. The Society was formed in 1815 for the 
special purpose of training men for missionary serv- 
ice in Basle. Before that they had for some years 
received their training in Berlin. When ready for 
service these students generally offered themselves 
to London or Holland Societies. In 1821 the So- 
ciety sent two men to Southern Russia, and thus 
entered directly upon missionary work. Missions 
in Liberia and on the Gold Coast in West Africa, 
and on the west coast of India were undertaken in 
the same decade. Subsequently, China and Cam- 
eroon, Africa, were added to the Society's fields. 
Those who managed its affairs had a difficult under- 
taking. It was by no means regarded as a necessary 
or desirable enterprise, and it was the policy of its 
successive inspectors or directors to extend con- 
stantly the circle of its friends and supporters. Its 
methods are those usual in foreign missionary fields, 
— evangelistic, educational, medical, etc. It also has 
been interested in industrial movements. It has pro- 
vided lands for tillage, shops, and other industrial 
(9) 129 



Foreign Missions of the 

resources for the training and employment of the 
natives. This feature necessitated the establishment 
of commercial houses on the Gold Coast and in 
India to manage the products of the various indus- 
tries. The trade department has proved remunera- 
tive, furnishing about 17 per cent of the income. 
This industrial development is made possible by the 
fact that the men trained at the Mission House in 
Basle are almost invariably from the laboring 
classes. Of all those who entered up to 1882 only 
17 were without a vocation. Of the 1,112 men 143 
were farmers, 98 weavers, 69 shoemakers, 65 work- 
ers in wood, 50 workers in iron, 73 teachers, etc. 
Every student must have a trade. In every field, 
therefore, there are skilled farmers, mechanics, and 
artisans of various classes. 

The Society is undenominational, and has affili- 
ations with members of most of the Protestant 
churches of Central Europe. Its affairs are under 
the control of a Board of seven laymen and six 
ministers. The Board is self-perpetuating. No 
specific salary is offered to missionaries; but they 
are told that they will receive necessary care. The 
Board exercises a direct supervision over them, not 
only as to their service but also as to their state in 
life. They are not expected to marry without the 
approval of the Board. Homes in Basle are main- 
tained for the children of missionaries. As to the 
churches in the field, the Presbyterian form of or- 
ganization is employed and a simple ritual is used. 

130 



Protestant Churches 

The receipts of the Society exceed $250,000 a 
year. 

BERLIN MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

The Berlin Society, strictly the Society for the 
Promotion of Evangelical Missions among the 
Heathen, grew out of the school established by 
Pastor Janicke in Berlin for the training of mission- 
aries. In this school missionary candidates from 
Basle were prepared for the work before the Basle 
Society was formed. The Berlin Society dates from 
1824, but the previous years were years of prepara- 
tion for the organization, which was brought about 
at a meeting in which the great German theologian, 
Tholuck, and the eminent Church historian, Ne- 
ander, were leading spirits. At first the purpose of 
the Society was to raise funds to help other socie- 
ties, but in a few years it decided to enter the field 
itself. 

The business of the Society is in the hands of a 
self-perpetuating committee of eighteen. The ad- 
ministrator is called Director. The Seminary in 
Berlin for the training of missionaries is an im- 
portant feature of home management. Applicants 
must have a good common-school education, and 
must spend a year in Berlin in preparation for ad- 
mission. In this period their Christian character, 
knowledge of the Bible and general fitness for mis- 
sionary work is tested. As the candidates are large- 
ly of the working classes, theological instruction, 
based on the Lutheran standards, is given in the 

13 1 



Foreign Missions of the 

Seminary. The course of study extends over four 
years. The income of the Society is in the neigh- 
borhood of $100,000. In establishing a mission 
station the usual plan is to secure property large 
enough to accommodate the necessary mission 
buildings and also houses for the native converts; 
mission families or communities thus being estab- 
lished. 

The two fields of the Society are Africa and 
China. In Africa there are stations in the Orange 
Free State, the Transvaal, Cape Colony, Kaffraria 
and Natal, and there are six synods in the field. 
In connection with these synods are between 20,000 
and 25,000 communicants. 

The mission in China was begun in 1882, or 
rather received in that vear from the Barmen So- 
ciety. It is in the city of Canton. 

FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE MORAVIANS 

The Moravians have never been a numerous 
sect, but they have always been an intensely active 
missionary body. Their zeal for the conversion of 
the heathen has never been surpassed, indeed has 
scarcely been equaled by that of any other Christian 
people. The name given them, Moravians, from the 
country of Moravia, in Germany, is not their official 
title. They call themselves Moravians, in common 
with the rest of the world, but their organization 
is officially the Unitas Frairwn. The Moravians 
go back to the fifteenth century for their origin. 

132 



Protestant Churches 

The followers of John Huss, the Bohemian re- 
former and martyr, were brethren of the same or- 
der and doctrine. They were suppressed just before 
the Thirty Years' War, but they preserved their 
episcopate until opportunity came to renew the 
Brotherhood on the estate of Count Zinzendorf, in 
Saxony. Here the town of Herrnhut was founded, 
and there the brethren lived as a community. When 
Moravians came to the United States they founded 
the town of Bethlehem, Penn., on the same plan. 
The Church owned the lands and stocked the 
farms, the industrial establishments, etc., and they 
were worked for its benefit. In return the Church 
provided the inhabitants with the necessaries of life. 
Whoever had private means retained them. This 
policy was given up more than fifty years ago in the 
United States but was retained in a modified form 
in Germany. 

Count Zinzendorf became interested in foreign 
missions very early in his youth, while he was a stu- 
dent in the Academy of Halle. He fell in with men 
who were being prepared to go to the Malabars 
in India, in connection with a Danish mission, and 
during a visit in. Copenhagen listened with intense 
interest to an account of the condition of Negroes 
in St. Thomas, West Indies. He related these 
things to the Brethren on his return to Herrnhut, 
and two young men offered to go to St. Thomas as 
missionaries. In 1732 one of these young men, 
together with Bishop David Nitschmann, set out for 

*33 



Foreign Missions of the 

the West Indies. This was the beginning of Mo- 
ravian missions. 

The Church in Germany, Great Britain and the 
United States is one, and foreign missions are di- 
rected by the Church itself through its General 
Synod, composed of representatives from the three 
provinces, Germany, Great Britain and the United 
States, and from the foreign missions. The Gen- 
eral Synod meets once in ten or twelve years and 
appoints an executive council, or board, consisting 
of bishops and other ministers, to superintend the 
general affairs of the Brotherhood in the interval 
between meetings of the General Synod. This 
council is called the Unity's Elders' Conference. 
This is divided into three boards — Education, Fi- 
nance and Missions. The Missions Board has charge 
of all foreign missions. It names a treasurer, a 
secretary of missions in England and agents of 
missions in Germany, England and the United 
vStates. Appointments of missionaries and estab- 
lishment of stations are matters submitted to the 
whole Unity's Elders' Conference. 

The aim of the missionaries is to preach the gospel 
direct to those to whom they are sent. The awak- 
ened are called New People, and are included 
in the class of catechumens to be instructed. They 
are not admitted to baptism until their lives show 
that they really desire to abandon heathenism and 
become Christians. After baptism they are kept 
for a while as candidates for the communion. Sep- 

J 34 



Protestant Churches 

arate meetings are held for the New People, for 
those who are to be admitted to baptism, and for 
candidates for the communion; also for children, 
single men, single women, married people and 
widows and widowers. 

St. Thomas, in the West Indies, was the first 
Moravian mission field, and the second was Green- 
land. While Count Zinzendorf was in Copenhagen 
he saw two baptized Greenlanders and heard an 
account of the efforts of Air. Egede to evangelize 
that heathen people. There was some thought, 
he learned, of abandoning the field, the difficulties 
were so great. He told these things to the Brethren 
in Herrnhut, as he had those about St. Thomas, and 
in 1733, five months after the St. Thomas mission- 
aries sailed, a second party started for Greenland 
and occupied the Southern part as their field, the 
Danish mission taking the Northern section. 

The third mission was to the North American 
Indians. Other fields entered by the Church, are 
Guiana, South America, South Africa, among the 
Hottentots, Kaffirs, and other savages, Barbadoes 
and other West India islands. Central America, 
Labrador, Alaska, Central Asia, on the border of 
Tibet, Australia, among the aborigines, and other 
countries. Successful missions to lepers are main- 
tained in Jerusalem and in South Africa. 

According to latest statistics the Moravians have 
137 principal stations, 184 European missionaries, 
and 33,505 communicants. The receipts in Eng- 

i35 



Foreign Missions of the 

land were in 1898 $68,542; in all the provinces, 

$125,347. 

RHENISH MISSION SOCIETY 

Organized at Barmen in 1828, this Society is 
widely known as the Barmen Society. It was 
formed by the union of small societies at Barmen 
and Elborfeld, which sent their candidates to Basle 
seminary to be trained. A training school was 
opened at Barmen in 1825 and this led to the or- 
ganization of the Rhenish Mission Society. 

South Africa was its first fieki. There it has 
three districts : Cape Colony, Namaqua and Herero. 
The churches in Cape Colony are self-supporting. 
The communicants include Europeans, imported 
Negroes, Hottentots, and a mixture of many races. 
Namaqualand is North of Cape Colony on the West 
Coast, and Herero is in the center of Damaraland, 
just North of Namaqualand — both now German 
territory. The Namaquas, a branch of the Hotten- 
tots, are hunters, and a somewhat fierce people. 
Their country is dry, and unfit for cultivation, and 
the people are necessarily nomadic in their habits. 
The Hereros, on the contrary, are a pastoral people. 
They keep large herds of cattle and are a true Negro 
tribe. They learn slowly, but hold what they ac- 
quire. 

The missions in the Dutch East Indies are in 
Borneo, Sumatra, and Nias. In Borneo and Suma- 
tra the native tribes reached are the Dyaks and the 

Battas. 

136 



Protestant Churches 

The Chinese mission is in the province of Kwan- 
tung, among the Puntis. 

In 1887 the Society began missionary work in the 
northern and German portion of New Guinea, 
among the Papuans. 

The Society receives about $120,000 a year. Its 
list of ordained workers includes 23 missionaries 
and it has 1,100 native teachers and helpers. 

NORTH GERMAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

This Society was organized in 1836 by missionary 
unions in Bremen, Hamburg, and other places. 
Previously these unions had gathered money for 
other Societies. In those days there was great op- 
position to missionary societies. Church author- 
ities frowned on such enterprises, the people mocked 
at them, "no church could be secured for their an- 
nual meeting, and notices of them could not be 
inserted in the papers in connection with religious 
announcements." 

The Society established a missionary institute at 
Hamburg in 1837, and five years later sent five of 
its graduates into the field. New Zealand was the 
first field. The work is no longer among heathen 
but nominally Christian natives. The African mis- 
sion is on the Gold Coast. In common with othe* 
missions it has suffered from the destructive climate. 

The income of the Society, which is supported 
both by Lutheran and Reformed elements, is about 
$33,000 a year. 

i37 



Foreign Missions of the 

gossner missionary society 

This Society is the outcome of the missionary 
zeal of Pastor Gossner. Gossner was a Roman 
Catholic, but becoming deeply imbued with evangel- 
ical principles he became an evangelical pastor in 
Berlin. He was one of the directors of the Berlin 
Missionary Society; but on account of dissatisfaction 
with the industrial feature of that Society he with- 
drew from it. Young men came to him to be trained 
for mission service and went out under the auspices 
of other societies. In 1842 he was permitted by cab- 
inet ordinance to form a mission society. This So- 
ciety had no very definite organization, and exercised 
no control over the missionaries it supported during 
the lifetime of Gossner. Some of his young men went 
out on their own account, and by accident, or rather 
design of Providence, got among the Khols of In- 
dia, a degraded, stupid people, whom they undertook 
to evangelize. The field was a desperately hard one, 
but Gossner gave them no aid except a promise to 
pray for them. After five long weary years the 
first baptism took place. Then conversions were 
rapid. Being under no central authority the mis- 
sionaries fell out among themselves. Gossner was 
disturbed, but all he could do was to say, "If you 
don't agree I shall stop praying for you." The 
trouble continued for years, and after Gossner's 
death a split took place and several of the mission- 
aries, with some thousands of converts, went over 

138 



Protestant Churches 

to the Anglican Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel. 

The Gossner Society reports over 37,000 adher- 
ents in the India field. It received in 1898 upward 
of $40,000. 

LEIPZIG MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

This is a Lutheran Missionary Society. It was 
founded in 1836, with a missionary seminary at 
Dresden. The aim of the Society is somewhat dif- 
ferent from that of Basle, with which it had for- 
merely a connection. As stated from the Leipzig 
Society's standpoint, the difference is this : the Basle 
Society aims at individual conversions, and trains 
its missionaries accordingly; the Leipzig Society 
seeks national conversion and insists that its mis- 
sionaries shall have an intimate knowledge of all 
aspects of civilization — religious, scientific, liter- 
ary, political and social. 

Its mission in India, in Tranquebar, was made 
over to it by the Danish Mission at Copenhagen. 
The work is among the Tamils. The Society also 
has an important mission in Rangoon, Burma. It 
has in these two countries 36 stations, and upward 
of 16,000 adherents. Its income is nearly $100,000. 

HERMANNSBURG MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

Pastor Louis Harms brought about the organiza- 
tion of this Society, in 1849, m Hermannsburg. 
From the time of his conversion, in 1829, Harms 
was interested in the mission cause, and in his 

i39 



Foreign Missions of the 

pastoral relation in Hermannsburg he created such 
zeal for it that both money and men were offered 
for the field. The money came from peasants and 
the candidates were from the farm. Missionary 
training was provided for them in useful trades as 
well as in theology. In 1853 eight missionaries 
were sent out to Africa with the idea that they 
would support themselves in the field, leaving the 
Society to bear the expense of sending out. They 
went to Natal and established an important though 
difficult mission work among the Zulus. It also has 
a mission among the Bechuanas, a small undertak- 
ing in South India among the Telugus, and stations 
in Australia and New Zealand. 

Since 1877 the- Society has served as the organ of 
the Free Church of Hanover. The secession was 
due to a new marriage formula issued by the State 
Church. As it recognized civil marriage Pastor 
Harms would not use it. Hence the separation. 
Since 1890 cooperative relations have existed be- 
tween the Free Church and the State Church, and 
members of both support the Society. 

The annual income is about $58,000 and there 
are 35,250 adherents in the mission fields. 

SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

This is a Lutheran organization, formed in 1877 

for the Lutherans of the province of Schleswig- 

Holstein. Its headquarters are in Breklum, and it 

is sometimes, in accordance with German custom, 

140 



Protestant Churches 

designated as the Breklum Society. It has a mis- 
sion house and training school in that city. The first 
missionaries went to the Bastar country, in the cen- 
tral provinces of India. There are now six stations, 
including the central station in Jeypore. 

OTHER GERMAN SOCIETIES 

There are several other Societies in Germany, in- 
cluding the Jerusalem Verein, the Berlin Women's 
Verein, the Neukirchner, the Neuendettelsau, the 
Evangelical Protestant, and the Evangelical So- 
ciety, with incomes ranging from less than $4,000 to 
$15,000 and $20,000. 

DANISH MISSION SOCIETY 

The Lutheran Church of Denmark was the first 
of European Churches to attempt foreign mission 
work among the heathen. As early as 1705 Ziegen- 
balg and Pliitschau, names famous in missionary 
annals, were ordained in Copenhagen as mission- 
aries, and went out the next year to do work in 
Tranquebar, India. In 17 14 the Royal College of 
Missions was established in Copenhagen for the 
training of missionaries. Through this College the 
State Church maintained missions in India and 
Greenland. Later on, rationalism came into the 
Church and the Tamil mission in India passed over 
to the English. The successor to this movement 
was the Danish Missionary Society, formed in 1821. 

It assisted the Greenland mission, but was ham- 

141 



Foreign Missions of the 

pered by the mission college. In 1862 it founded a 
seminary of its own. Next year a new mission was 
begun among the Tamils in India. It also has a 
mission among the Malays in India. The Society 
represents the State Church. 

Besides the Danish Missionary Society, there is 
in Denmark a small independent society known as 
Loventhal's, representing the Grundtvigt move- 
ment, with a mission in Vellore, India, the Red 
Karen mission, working among the Karens of 
Burma, in charge of Schreuder, also of the Grundt- 
vigt movement, and the Northern Santhal Mission, 
founded by two Danish missionaries, Boresen and 
Skrefsrud, who left the Gossner mission in India, 
and began an independent mission among the San- 
thals, with great success. There is a branch of this 
mission in a Santhal colony in Assam. 

NORWEGIAN MISSION SOCIETY 

There was a great evangelical awakening in Nor- 
way, in the first quarter of the present century, 
through the labors of Hans Nilssen Hauge. In con- 
sequence of this missionary societies were formed 
in various places. These societies formed a union 
in 1843 an d the Norwegian Mission Society was 
the result. It has missions in Zululand and Mada- 
gascar. More than 16,000 communicants have been 
gathered in Madagascar. 

This Society represents churches and individuals. 

Bishop Schreuder, who started the Zulu mission, 

142 



Protestant Churches 

separated from the Society in 1873, and the Nor- 
wegian Church Mission, representing the State 
Church, was formed to support him. He carried over 
part of the Zulu mission. 

The receipts of the older Society amount to about 
350,000 kroners; those of the State Church organ- 
ization to 7,000 or 8,000 kroners. 

SWEDISH MISSIONS 

There are four missionary organizations in Swe- 
den : the Swedish Mission Society, Stockholm, or- 
ganized in 1835, working among the Finns; the 
Evangelical National Society, Stockholm, organized 
in 1856, a free movement within the State Church, 
with missions among the Gallas, in Africa, and the 
Ghonds in India; the Swedish Church Mission, 
Stockholm, established in 1874, by authority of the 
King, for the State Church, with missions among 
the Zulus of Africa and the Tamils of India; and 
the Swedish Mission Union, Christinehamn, organ- 
ized in 1878, to represent the Waldenstromian 
movement. It is an active society with missions in 
Russia, Congo, Alaska and North Africa. The 
North Africa mission is among the Jews of Al- 
giers. 

The revenue of the last named Society is about 
110,000 kroners, of the Church Mission 46,000 
kroners, of the Evangelical Society 137,000 kroners 
and of the Swedish Society 22,000 kroners. 

143 



Foreign Missions of the 

finland missionary society 

This Society was formed in 1857, m connection 
with the celebration of the seven hundredth anni- 
versary of the Christianization of Finland, by 
Bishop Henrik, in 1 157. A few of the Finnish 
Lutherans had been stirred by a zeal for missions, 
but some of the pastors had been haled before the 
courts for putting up boxes at their doors for mis- 
sionary contributions. For some years it cooperated 
with the Gossner Society; but in 1868 it founded 
a mission of its own in Ovamboland, on the West 
Coast of South Africa. There are three principal 
stations. 

MISSIONARY SOCIETIES IN HOLLAND 

There are six missionary societies in the Nether- 
lands, five representing the Reformed Churches and 
one the Mennonites. 

The Netherlands Missionary Society, Rotterdam, 
was founded in 1797 through the influence of Dr. 
Vanderkemp, the South African missionary of the 
London Society. It has missions in Java, Amboyna 
and Celebes, with 20,000 communicants. It for- 
merly had missions in India, but they were trans- 
ferred to English societies. 

The Utrecht Society, was organized in 1859. ^ 

has work in Dutch New Guinea, or Papua, and in 

the Moluccas, East Indies. 

The Ermelo Society, Ermelo, was founded in 
144 



Protestant Churches 

1856, has missions in Talaut Islands, South Seas, in 
Java and among the Copts in Egypt. 

The Dutch Society, Rotterdam, organized in 
1858, has work in Western Java and among the 
Sundaese. The latter are Mohammedans. Many of 
them have been induced to become Christians. 

The Dutch Reformed Society, Rotterdam, was 
founded in 1859, operates in Central Java, where it 
has upward of 50 churches, with 5,000 or more 
communicants. 

The Mennonite Society, Amsterdam, has mis- 
sions in Sumatra and Java. 

PARIS EVANGELICAL SOCIETY 

This Society was organized in 1822 for mission- 
ary work among non-Christian peoples. Jean and 
Frederick Monod, Baron A. de Stael and Admiral 
Count Verhnel were among its founders. It is un- 
denominational, but represents, of course, the Re- 
formed faith of France. Its chief mission is among 
the Basutos of South Africa. The Society also has 
a mission on the Upper Zambesi River, in the French 
Colony of Senegambia, on the West Coast, on the 
Gaboon and Ogove Rivers, and in Tahiti. Its in- 
come is upwards of $75,000. 

FREE CHURCHES OF SWITZERLAND 

The Free Churches of French Switzerland sent 
missionaries to South Africa in 1874. The mission 
is in the Transvaal among the Gwamba tribe. The 
income of the Society is about $15,000. 
(10) 145 



Foreign Missions of the 



CHAPTER IX 

American Missionary Societies 

the american board 

Doubtless the attention of the Congregationalists 
of the United States had been drawn to the subject 
of missions among the heathen long before the 
American Board was organized. John Eliot had, 
in the first half of the seventeenth century, preached 
to the Indians in their native tongue and soon had 
a band of "praying Indians." He also trained 
teachers and preachers for the work. This was the 
first American mission to the heathen. The forma- 
tion of the London Missionary Society near the 
close of the eighteenth century by English Congre- 
gationalists was of course known to their American 
brethren, and helped to crystallize the sentiment 
which had been forming in favor of the cause. 

It was the devotion of young college students 
which immediately led to the formation of the old- 
est of the foreign missionary societies of the United 
States, the American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions, at Bradford, Mass., June 29, 
1810. The real "birthplace of American Missions" 
was at Williams college, in the shelter of a haystack, 
where students held a missionary prayer-meeting in 

t8o6. In this meeting Samuel J. Mills, who had 

146 



Protestant Churches 

been consecrated by his mother from his birth 
(1783) to missionary service, was a leading spirit. 
Two years later, 1808, these godly students formed 
in the college a society "to effect, in the person of 
its members, a mission to the heathen," but the mat- 
ter was kept secret lest they "should be thought 
rashly imprudent" and should injure the cause they 
wished to promote. Mills went to Andover Sem- 
inary for his theological education, with Gordon 
Hall and Tames Richards, and there with Samuel 
Newell, Adoniram Judson and Samuel Nott, Jr., 
continued to think and pray about the missionary 
cause. This led to a request from four of them — 
Mills, Newell, Nott and Judson — to the General 
Association of Congregational Churches that it 
would "attempt a mission to the heathen." Two 
others would have joined in this request but for the 
fear that so many applicants would alarm the As- 
sociation. The request was granted without delay, 
and the American Board was organized, with nine 
commissioners to manage it — five from Massachu- 
setts and four from Connecticut. The Legislature 
of Massachusetts refused for two years to grant a 
charter, one of the opponents declaring that the 
State had no religion to spare for export; but it 
was granted June 20, 1812. 

The first annual meeting was attended by five 
commissioners and an audience of one person. The 
receipts for the first year were just 48 cents less than 
$1,000. Funds came in so slowly that the London 

*47 



Foreign Missions of the 

Missionary Society was asked for help to send out a 
missionary. It declined, in the hope that resources 
in the United States would be developed. The same 
year, 181 1, a bequest of $30,000 was received, and it 
was resolved to send Judson, Nott, Newell and 
Hall to establish a mission in Asia. They sailed in 
February, 181 2, with Luther Rice; part of the com- 
pany from New York, part from Philadelphia. 
The British East India Company would not allow 
any of them to preach to the Hindus, believing that 
it would injure their commercial interests. Driven 
from Calcutta, Judson and Newell went to the Isle 
of France, Hall and Nott to Bombay, where after a 
long delay they were given permission to enter upon 
work and founded the mission among the Mara- 
thas. Judson and Rice had changed their views on 
baptism on the way out, and the former went to 
Burma and founded the Baptist mission in that 
country. 

In 181 1 the Board asked the cooperation of the 
Presbyterian General Assembly. The response was 
favorable, and churches of that order contributed to 
the income of the Board and were represented on 
the Board of Commissioners. The Associate Re- 
formed Church, the Reformed Dutch and Reformed 
German Churches also joined the Board. In 181 7 
the Presbyterian bodies had formed a foreign mis- 
sionary society for special work among the Indians. 
In 1825 a union was arranged with the American 

Board. This continued until the separation of the 

148 



Protestant Churches 

Old School and New School parties, the New 
School Presbyterians supporting the Board until the 
reunion in 1870. The Reformed Dutch Church 
withdrew amicably in 1857. Since 1870 the Board 
has drawn its main support from the Congregational 
churches, though Presbyterians are still members of 
it and Presbyterians contribute to it to some extent. 
Formerly the American Missionary Association, 
also Congregational, had a few foreign missions, 
but they were transferred to the Board and it has 
confined its action to the home field for many 
years. 

The Board is composed of 350 corporate mem- 
bers, at least one third of whom must be laymen 
and one third ministers. At their annual meeting 
these corporate members elect the officers of the 
Board and a Prudential Committee of twelve per- 
sons, besides the President and Vice President. 
The Prudential Committee is charged with the ad- 
ministration of the work and meets twice a month 
in Boston. There are three Corresponding Secre- 
taries, an Editorial Secretary, a treasurer and a pub- 
lishing and purchasing agent. There are also two 
field secretaries. 

In 1820, at the end of the first decade of its his- 
tory, the American Board had missions in West 
India, Ceylon, among the Cherokee and Choctaw 
Indians, in the Sandwich Islands, and in Palestine, 
and the annual income reached nearly $40,000. In 

the next ten years the Syrian mission and a mission 

149 



Foreign Missions of the 

at Canton, China, were started, and the receipts 
more than doubled. The missions among the In- 
dians, in the Sandwich Islands and in Ceylon were 
attended with encouraging results and the funds of 
the Board increased so rapidly that it enlarged its 
work, began a mission in Constantinople, another in 
Athens, Greece, and others in Siam, Singapore, 
Persia, West Africa, and Southeast Africa. At the 
end of the third decade the Board had 25 missions, 
134 ordained missionaries, with physicians, teach- 
ers, etc., and 186 female missionaries; making a 
total force of 365. 

At the end of the first fifty years the Board had a 
large and very successful missionary work under 
its control. The Sandwich Islands had been vir- 
tually Christianized, the missions in India had been 
strengthened, those in China had been increased, 
and the beginnings in Africa, Turkey and other 
countries had been enlarged. The work among the 
North American Indians had been gradually re- 
linquished to the care of home societies. The re- 
ceipts of the Board in its fiftieth year were a little 
less than $430,000. 

The sixth decade was made notable by the 
resignation of Dr. Anderson, who had served as 
Secretary of the Board for thirty-four years and had 
conducted its affairs with signal ability and faith- 
fulness, by the beginning of a mission in Japan, 
and by the withdrawal of the Presbyterian Church 

from the support of the Board. In 1871 the Sand- 

150 



Protestant Churches 

wich Islands ceased to appear on the list of foreign 
missions, the work of Christianization having been 
accomplished, and the Board resolved to undertake 
work in papal lands. In 1879 the Board, by the 
will of Asa Otis, received an extraordinary legacy 
of $1,000,000, which was set apart for new mis- 
sions, enlargement of existing missions, and edu- 
cational purposes. The income of the Board in 
1898 was $687,200, including the contributions of 
its missions, amounting to $116,753. In that year 
it had 10 1 principal stations, 1,271 out-stations, 539 
missionaries, 2,975 native laborers, 465 churches 
and 47,023 communicants. 

The missions of the Board, twenty in number, 
are in Asia, Africa, Europe, Mexico and the Pacific 
islands. Its extensive missions among the Amer- 
ican Indians were transferred some years ago to 
home organizations. The Arcot mission in India 
and the Amoy mission in China were transferred 
to the Reformed Dutch Church when the latter or- 
ganized its own foreign board. The Persian, Syr- 
ian and Gaboon missions went to the Presbyterian 
Board, as its share of the work, on the reunion in 
1870. 

The oldest of the missions are the Marathi and 
the Ceylon. Of the missionaries first sent out Mr. 
and Mrs. Judson went to Burma as Baptists, Luther 
Rice returned to America to raise support for them. 
There remained, of the original company, Messrs. 
Nott, Hall and Newell. Driven from Calcutta, 

151 



Foreign Missions of the 

Messrs. Nott and Hall went to Bombay. They were 
allowed to stay, and laid the foundations of the 
Marathi mission. Mr. Newell went to Mauritius, 
losing his wife and child on the way. He sailed 
thence in a Portuguese ship and touched at Ceylon. 
Finding Ceylon open, and believing the brethren at 
Bombay would have to> leave there, he began mis- 
sionary work among the Ceylonese. The Marathi 
mission, begun under discouraging circumstances, 
has grown steadily in prosperity and influence among 
a population of 3,000,000. The Ceylon mission 
includes a number of self-supporting churches and 
has a native foreign missionary society. The third 
mission in India is the Madura, begun in 1834, 
among about 2,000,000 Tamils. The natives 
treated the missionaries contemptuously at first, as 
outcasts of the white race, later with active enmity. 
But Christianity has made its way and has slowly 
undermined the heathen system. 

The beginning of the mission in the Sandwich 
Islands was clearly providential. October 23, 18 19, 
seventeen persons, two of them ordained, sailed 
from Boston in the brig Thaddeus for the islands. 
The number embraced three native Hawaiians who 
had been driven from the islands by civil war and 
had been educated in the missionary school estab- 
lished by the Board in New Haven, Conn. It was a 
very serious undertaking at that time; not simply 
because the passage was so long and tedious but be- 
cause the Hawaiians were understood to be fierce 

152 



Protestant Churches 

and warlike heathen. When the expedition reached 
the group, however, it was found that the people 
had abolished idolatry and were ready for Chris- 
tianity. The king, with twelve chiefs and 200 pu- 
pils, went to school to the missionaries, and so 
anxious were the people to learn that eleven years 
after the first expedition sailed from Boston there 
were 900 schools in the islands, with 44,000 learn- 
ers. Christianity speedily uprooted and replaced 
heathenism, and converts went out from Hawaii to 
Christianize the Marquesas Islands, under the aus- 
pices of the Hawaiian Missionary Society, which 
was organized in 1850. The Micronesian missions, 
in the Gilbert, Marshall and Caroline Islands, begun 
in 1 85 1, have been very successful. 

The Board's missions among populations belong- 
ing to the Oriental Christian Churches were begun 
by Pliny Fisk and Levi Parsons in 1821. The out- 
come is an extensive work among the Armenians of 
Turkey, divided into the Western, Central and 
Eastern Turkey missions. In connection with these 
missions the Greek and Hebrew populations are also 
reached to some extent. The Moslems are only 
affected indirectly, as work among them is not tol- 
erated. The Armenians have been extensively 
evangelized, and many churches with native pas- 
tors are to be found in European and Asiatic Tur- 
key. The terrible massacre of Armenians by the 
Turks a few years ago will long be remembered 
for its fiendishness, for the number of the victims, 

153 



Foreign Missions of the 

and for the sublime courage with which men and 
women met death; preferring the sword to apos- 
tasy to the Moslem faith. The world has hardly 
ceased to ring with the cries of horror and indig- 
nation with which civilized nations received the 
reports of the awful acts of the bloody Turk. The 
mission in Bulgaria, south of the Balkans, has 
achieved important results for this vigorous race. 
Many of its young men have been educated at 
Robert College, in Constantinople, which has been 
a center of strong religious influence. 

The Board's oldest mission in China, the Amoy, 
went to the Board of the Reformed Dutch Church. 
The next oldest mission, the Foochow, begun in 
1847, is not so strong as the North China. Both are 
flourishing missions. There is also a considerable 
work in the province of Shansi and a mission in 
Hongkong. 

The African missions operated by the Board are 
among the Zulus in Natal, and the Transvaal, in 
East Central Africa, and in West Central Africa. 
The latter, with its chief stations at Bailundu and 
Chisamba in Benguela, was established in 1880. 
The missionaries were expelled in 1883, but returned 
in 1885 and resumed their work. The three Af- 
rican missions have sixteen stations, 57 American 
laborers. 

The Board has a strong mission in Japan, begun 
in 1869. There are 72 churches, and over ten thou- 
sand communicants. The Doshisha, or Training 

154 



Protestant Churches 

School at Kioto, under native control was carried 
astray and the Board ceased to be responsible for 
it; but in 1899 it was returned to the Board and is 
again a definitely Christian school. 

Missions in papal lands were begun in 1872. 
They are in Mexico, Spain and Austria, all estab- 
lished in the same year. There are 17 churches in 
Mexico, 16 in Austria, and 8 in Spain. In Austria 
the work is among the Bohemians and is prosper- 
ous. 

The Board has in all 101 stations, 1,271 out-sta- 
tions, 465 churches, 47,023 communicants, with 
1,270 schools and 56,641 under instruction. The 
number of American laborers is 539, and of native 
laborers 2,975, °^ whom 477 are preachers. 

AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION 

The immediate occasion of the organization of 

this Society, May 18, 18 14, four years after the 

American Board had come into existence, was the 

news sent back to American Baptists that Adoniram 

Judson and Luther Rice, missionaries to India of 

the American Board, had changed their views on the 

way out as to the proper subjects and method of 

baptism, and become Baptists. In expectation of 

meeting missionaries of the English Baptist Society 

at Calcutta they had studied the New Testament to 

prepare to defend the Congregational teaching, but 

had become convinced that the Baptists were right 

and they themselves wrong, and instead of engaging 

i55 



Foreign Missions of the 

in controversy with the Baptist missionaries they 
sought baptism at their hands. Letters announcing 
their change of belief were sent to America, and 
Baptists were asked to support them. Luther Rice 
returned to the United States to promote this ob- 
ject, and found on his arrival that an organization 
with this end in view had already been formed. 

The Baptists had previously had their attention 
drawn to the missionary cause, and had been con- 
tributing to the English Baptist Missionary So- 
ciety which had sent Carey to India in 1793. The 
Rev. William Stoughton, who had been present at 
the organization of the English Society at Ketter- 
ing, had emigrated to America the next year and 
communicated some of his missionary enthusiasm 
to American Baptists. English missionaries, who 
touched at New York or Boston on their way to 
India, also awakened zeal for this cause. Besides, 
letters came frequently from Carey and his colabor- 
ers in India, and were published in a magazine es- 
tablished by a Baptist home missionary society in 
Massachusetts. The result was the formation of 
societies in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and 
other cities for the prosecution of the mission begun 
under such peculiar circumstances. These societies 
were united in the "General Convention" of the 
Baptists of the United States "for Foreign Mis- 
sions," organized at a meeting in Philadelphia, May 
18. 1 8 14. The first Corresponding Secretary of the 
Society was the Rev. William Stoughton, who had 

156 



Protestant Churches 

heard Carey's famous sermon, "Expect great things 
from God, attempt great things for God." He served 
until 1826, when the headquarters of the Society 
were removed from Philadelphia to Boston. 

When the American Baptists entered upon for- 
eign mission work they numbered about 70,000 
only. They were widely scattered along the Atlan- 
tic coast, with no general bond of union. The cen- 
ters were in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, in 
Philadelphia and Virginia. The missionary Con- 
vention, which was held triennially, drew Baptists 
together from all parts of the country and led to the 
founding of other important denominational enter- 
prises. In 181 7 it authorized the use of a portion 
of the funds for home missions, and later on the 
Publication Society was organized. The slavery 
question, which divided so many denominations, 
brought about a separation of the Northern and 
Southern Baptists in 1846, when the triennial Con- 
vention was discontinued and the American Baptist 
Missionary Union was formed to represent North- 
ern and the Southern Board to represent Southern 
Baptists in foreign work. The separation did not 
long or severely affect the receipts of the Union. 
In 1851 they reached Si 18,726, the highest point 
during its history. The average had been about 
$75,000. Since the Civil War they have risen stead- 
ily. In 1864 the amount received was $135,012; 
in 1874 $261,581 ; and in the centenary year, 1893, 
the income was $766,783. With the contributions 

i57 



Foreign Missions of the 

in the mission fields the average yearly income is 
more than $700,000. 

The annual meeting of the Union is held in May 
in connection with the anniversaries of other de- 
nominational societies. It consists of missionaries, 
life and honorary members, and delegates from 
churches and associations. It elects the board of 
managers of the Union, consisting of seventy-five 
members, of whom not more than two-fifths shall 
be ministers. This board elects an Executive Com- 
mittee of fifteen, as nearly equally divided as pos- 
sible between the lay and clerical elements. The 
Executive Committee is charged with the direct 
administration of the affairs of the Union. It meets 
twice a month, the members giving their services. 
There are two corresponding secretaries, one in 
charge of the missions abroad, the other of the work 
at home, including the direction of the district sec- 
retaries, correspondence with applicants for ap- 
pointment as missionaries, etc. 

The fields of the Union are in Asia, Africa and 
Europe. When Judson was driven out of India the 
only vessel on which he could secure passage for 
himself and wife was bound to Rangoon. There 
was begun the first Baptist mission among the Bur- 
mese. It was gradually extended to the Sgau 
Karen, Pwo Karen, Shan, Kachin and Chin races. 
Judson soon learned the language well enough to 
read and talk in it, and began almost immediately 

the preparation of a Burmese grammar and diction- 

158 



Protestant Churches 

ary and the translation of portions of the Bible. In 
1819 he began to preach to the people in their own 
tongue, and the next year baptized the first Burman 
convert to Christianity. The work in Rangoon was 
greatly disturbed by opposition of Buddhist rulers, 
and suspended during several considerable periods, 
until that part of Burma became, in 1852, British 
territory. During the enforced absence of the 
American missionaries the Burman church was 
maintained by a native pastor and only one of the 
members fell away. Work among the Karens, who 
are the peasant population, was begun by George 
Dana Boardman and his wife in 1828. Although 
it was attended by much persecution it steadily 
developed until there were nearly 500 Karen 
churches in all Burma. Ko-thah-byu, a slave con- 
verted under the labors of Judson and baptized by 
Boardman, was the first Karen convert and the first 
Karen preacher. He was so zealous and successful 
as an evangelist that he has been called the "Karen 
Apostle." 

Assam, which is northwest of Burma, was en- 
tered in 1836, by Burman missionaries. The work 
was at first, among the Assamese, Shans and Kham- 
tis, and grammars, dictionaries, etc., were prepared, 
and the Scriptures translated into these tongues. 
Subsequently many of the hill tribes were reached 
and now the most flourishing of the three missions 
is that among the Garos. 

Arakan, which lies on the Bay of Bengal, be- 
159 



Foreign Missions of the 

came a mission field of the Union in 1835. The 
natives are of Burman stock. In the Northern 
part the climate was singularly fatal to mission- 
aries and finally the field was abandoned. So was 
the Southern mission for a different reason. After 
35 years it was occupied again in 1888. 

The Siam mission was established in 1833 by 
John Taylor Jones, who went to Bangkok, the cap- 
ital, from Maulmain, Burma. Two years later a 
mission to the Chinese in Bangkok was undertaken 
by William Dean. The work among the Siamese 
has not been very successful, but that among the 
Chinese was regarded as an important door into 
China. 

In addition to Chinese work in Bangkok mission 
stations were opened at Hongkong, at Macao and 
at Swatow in 1861. Besides the South China and 
Central China missions, the Union has missions in 
East China, with headquarters at Ningpo, and in 
West China, at Suchau. 

In Southern India, a mission among the Telugus, 

on the Bay of Bengal, was begun at Nellore in 1836. 

This was a hard and stubborn field, and there were 

twenty years of dreary waiting for the first native 

convert. After thirty years of patient endeavor 

there were not above twenty-four Telugu converts. 

Several times the Union had discussed the question 

of abandoning a field which offered no inducements 

for the continued outlay of money; but Dr. Jewett 

resolutely refused to abandon the field. In 1865 

160 



Protestant Churches 

the Union sent the Rev. J. E. Clough to reinforce 
the "lone star mission," as it was called; for while 
the stars indicating Baptist missions had multiplied 
in Burma, across the bay to the westward the Telugu 
country had only one star for a generation. 

Clough began work in Ongole, north of Nellore. 
Almost immediately prosperity began at both sta- 
tions, chiefly at the new one. After nine years there 
were 336 members at Nellore, 2,761 at Ongole, 675 
at Ramapatam, and 60 at Allur. Then came severe 
famine; after the famine, flood, cholera, and then a 
severer famine. Many of the converts died ; but the 
missionaries labored to save the people; administer- 
ing the relief which came from the government and 
from charity so wisely as to win the gratitude of the 
surviving heathen. After the famine they pressed 
by hundreds and thousands for admission to the 
Church, and after careful examination 8,691 were 
baptized within a period of six weeks in 1878; 2,222 
in one day. The work continued and the "lone 
star mission" became the most prosperous mission of 
the Union, with at least 100,000 adherents. The 
Sudras, laboring caste, merchants, and the military 
caste, also many Brahmins, surrendered caste and 
became active Christians. A large proportion of the 
churches are self-supporting. 

The Japanese mission was undertaken in 1872, 
where there is a large force of American mission- 
aries and a theological seminary for the training of 

native pastors. 

(11) 161 



Foreign Missions of the 

The first work by Baptist missionaries in Africa 
was among the American colonists on the Liberian 
coast. A mission to the native Bassas was begun 
but was abandoned, in 1856, on account of fatalities 
among the missionaries. Desiring to have a mission 
among the heathen the Union gladly received the 
work of the Livingstone Inland Mission, offered, in 
3883, by Mr. and Mrs. H. Grattan Guinness, its 
founders. The Guinnesses, who were English peo- 
ple, began the mission in the Congo Free State and 
established six stations, with twenty-five mission- 
aries. The Union took the missions under its charge 
in 1884, an d nas since extended them to the Upper 
Congo, where a steamer plies between the stations. 

The European missions of the Union are in both 
Protestant and Catholic countries. The French 
work was begun in 1832. For many years native 
pastors were persecuted, and up to 1876 missionary 
work in the provinces was punished by fines and 
confiscations. The mission is affiliated with the 
McAll movement. The mission in Germany was 
begun in 1834, when Dr. Barnas Sears baptized 
seven persons in the River Elbe. One of these con- 
verts, Johann Gerhard Oncken, became the first pas- 
tor of the first Baptist church, and visited many 
cities as a missionary. The work spread rapidly 
and although it was attended with persecution it 
was prosperous. It was extended to Denmark, Hun- 
gary, Austria, Switzerland, and other countries, all 

by German missionaries. The entire work in Prot- 

162 



Protestant Churches 

estant Europe has been prosecuted by natives, no 
missionaries having been sent out by the Union 
from this country. There are Baptist churches in 
St. Petersburg, in Southern Russia, also in Bul- 
garia, Roumania, Bosnia and the Caucasus. 

Norwegians and Swedes who were sailors on the 
ship that carried Baptist missionaries to Burma, 
and who had been converted by their labors, began 
missionary work in Sweden in 1817. Swedes con- 
verted in New York City went back to their country 
in 1834-5, and in 1848 the first Swedish Baptist 
church was organized at Gothenburg. The work 
spread gradually until a score of Baptist associations 
were created. Most of the churches are self-sup- 
porting. 

The mission in Spain, begun in Madrid in 1868 
and adopted by the Union in 1870, has prospered, 
despite much persecution, and there are churches in 
many provinces. 

The only work carried on in America by the 
Union was among the Indians, begun in 18 17. 
In 1865 the last of these was transferred to the 
American Baptist Home Missionary Society. 

MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH 

To the early Methodists the United States was 

itself missionary ground, and Boardman, Pilmoor, 

Asbury and others sent over from England were 

missionaries. Dr. Thomas Coke, as early as 1786, 

163 



Foreign Missions of the 

after his visit to this country in connection with the 
organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
established missions in the West Indies. In 1814 
he sailed from England with a company of mission- 
aries for India, but was not permitted to see that 
country, as he died on the way and was buried at 
sea. 

The early Methodist preachers in this country, 
absorbed as they were in the growing work here, 
were not drawn toward foreign fields as early as 
their British brethren and their brethren of other 
denominations in the United .States. There were 
some who favored the organization of a missionary 
society, but only for work in this country. It was 
a revival among the Wyandot Indians under the 
preaching of John Stewart, a colored man just re- 
covered from a sinful life and intemperate habits, 
which led to the formation of the Missionary So- 
ciety in New York City April 5, 1819. There 
was some doubt whether such a society was neces- 
sary, and there was opposition to it on various 
grounds for some years. One objection was that it 
was organized as a Bible Society as well as a Mis- 
sionary Society, and the friends of the American 
Bible Society thought that Methodists should have 
their Bible work done through that organization. 
This view prevailed after a time, and the Society 
became strictly a missionary organization. The 
General Conference of 1820 heartily approved of 

the new society and said that the missionary spirit 

164 



Protestant Churches 

was the life blood of Methodism; and that, while the 
time might not yet have come to send missionaries 
beyond the seas, there were large fields in this coun- 
try, particularly among the Indians, which should be 
entered. 

The receipts of the first year were $823.04, and 
those of the second year $2,329. At the end of the 
first decade they exceeded $14,000. They increased 
rapidly and in 1838 were over $96,000. In 1839 
they were $132,480, and in 1844, $146,579. The 
separation of the Southern Conferences in that year 
reduced the income, but in 1852 the loss had been 
more than regained, the receipts being $151,982. 
The next year the income leaped to $338,068, but fell 
off to less than $300,000 for the next nine years. 
They passed the half million line in 1864, and the 
million line in 1886. The receipts for 1899 were 
$1,376,399, the largest in the history of the Society. 

The missionary interests of the Church are com- 
mitted by the General Conference to two bodies. 
First, the General Missionary Committee, consisting 
of the Bishops, the Secretaries and Treasurers of 
the Society, fourteen representatives of General 
Conference districts, and fourteen representatives, 
half clerical and half lay, of the Board of Managers. 
This General Committee has the power to establish 
or discontinue missions and to make annual appro- 
priations. Second, the Board of Managers, consist- 
ing of the Bishops, thirty-two laymen and thirty- 
two ministers, who are appointed by the General 

165 



Foreign Missions of the 

Conference. This Board is charged with the duties 
of administration. There are three Corresponding 
Secretaries, a Recording Secretary, a Treasurer and 
an Assistant Treasurer. 

The first missionary of the Society was sent to 
the French in New Orleans. Stewart's work among 
the Indians was strengthened. Missions to- the 
English speaking population were begun, particular 
attention being given to the colored people; and 
from time to time various classes of immigrants 
from foreign countries have been taken within the 
scope of the Society's labors. 

The foreign work of the Society was begun in 
1832, when Melville B. Cox was sent to Africa to 
labor among the persons colonized in Liberia by the 
American Colonization Society. He sailed from 
Norfolk, Va., November 6, 1832, and arrived at 
Monrovia March 7, 1833. He did not expect to 
live long in Africa, saying before he sailed, "If God 
please that my bones shall lie in an African grave, 
I shall have established such a bond between Africa 
and the Church at home as shall not be broken till 
Africa be redeemed." His apprehensions proved to 
be well founded. He caught the fever, and in four 
and a half months was laid in an African grave. His 
epitaph, given before he left the United States, was, 
"Let a thousand fall before Africa be given up!" 
These words have prevented the interest of the 
Church in the Dark Continent from dying out, al- 
though the outlook has at times been dark. 

166 



Protestant Churches 

Two Missionary Bishops, Burns and Roberts, both 
colored men, were successively chosen for the Afri- 
can Mission. After the death of Roberts no other 
Bishop was chosen for that field until 1884, when 
William Taylor was elected and consecrated Mis- 
sionary Bishop of Africa. For twelve years he 
performed much zealous labor in establishing a num- 
ber of missions on the border of Liberia and on the 
Congo in Angola, on the self-supporting plan. He 
was retired in 1896 and Joseph C. Hartzell was 
elected as his successor. Bishop Hartzell has or- 
ganized and strengthened the whole work and added 
new stations. There are now two Annual Confer- 
ences — the Liberia Conference and the Congo Mis- 
sion Conference. The latter includes not only the 
river territory and a considerable work in Angola, 
but also a district in Southeastern Africa, with 
headquarters at Inhambane on the coast, and a 
district in Mashonaland north of Matabeleland and 
west of the Portuguese territory, through which the 
Zambesi river runs. Much attention is given to 
industrial work as well as to evangelistic and school 
w T ork, and great hopes are entertained of future suc- 
cess in all parts of the mission. 

The second foreign mission was established in 

South America in 1835 by Fountain E. Pitts. It 

was begun in the city of Buenos Ayres, where work 

has been done in both English and Spanish and from 

which center openings in other countries have been 

made from time to time, until Uruguay and Para- 

167 



Foreign Missions of the 

guay have been opened and a little work has also 
been done in South Brazil. Among the early laborers 
were Rev. Justin Spaulding and Rev. John Demp- 
ster. Rev. Daniel P. Kidder was also among the 
effective laborers in Brazil. The work in Brazil 
was given up in 1841, and nothing further was done 
in that country until Rev. Justus H. Nelson and 
wife went to Para, in 1880, with Rev. William Tay- 
lor, since which time the work has been continued. 

Dr. Dallas D. Lore was among the early mission- 
aries in Buenos Ayres. Rev. Goldsmith D. Carrow 
succeeded Dr. Lore, and was followed in 1856 by 
Rev. William Goodfellow, who was the efficient 
superintendent for thirteen years. During the week 
of prayer in i860 John F. Thomson was converted 
at Buenos Ayres and has since been one of the most 
faithful missionaries in the work. Rev. Henry G. 
Jackson, D.D., served for ten years, from 1868 to 
1878. Rev. Thomas B. Wood was in charge for 
a time, and was succeeded in 1886 by Rev. Charles 
W. Drees, formerly of the Mexico Mission, who has 
been at his post until this year (1900), when he was 
appointed to open work in Puerto Rico. 

Mr. Wood began work in Rosario in 1870, and 
Mr. Thomson in Montevideo in 1868, since which 
time the work in Uruguay has gone on success- 
fully. 

In 1887 William Taylor sailed from New York 

for the West Coast of South America, visited many 

places in Peru and Chili, and established work at 

168 



Protestant Churches 

a number of stations, his purpose being to make the 
work self-supporting and to secure money for 
carrying on evangelistic work from the proceeds 
of schools. A Transit and Building Fund was or- 
ganized to aid him in carrying on his work, of 
which Mr. Anderson Fowler and Mr. Richard 
Grant were leading supporters. In 1893 that So- 
ciety offered to convey to the Missionary Society 
all their missions and property in Chili on con- 
dition that the Society would conduct the Work 
in that country on the self-supporting plan. The 
General Committee accepted the offer and recom- 
mended the Board of Managers to receive and ad- 
minister the missions, which was done in 1894, 
but the action was subsequently to some extent 
reconsidered and, after some changes, in 1897 an 
agreement was reached by which the Missionary 
Society was to retain the missions and the property 
and conduct them on the self-supporting plan, from 
which it would not depart except in case of extreme 
necessity. 

The work in Peru, which has been under the 
charge of Dr. Thomas B. Wood since 1891, has 
met with much trouble, but has a successful foot- 
ing in that land. 

The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society has 
had excellent workers both on the East and West 
Coast, Miss Jennie M. Chapin and Miss L. B. Den- 
ning being sent to Rosario in 1874, and other ex- 
cellent ladies following at various times since. 

169 



Foreign Missions of the 

The work on the East Coast constitutes the 
South America Conference, while that in Peru 
and Chili is organized into the Western South 
America Mission Conference. 

China was designated as a mission field by the 
General Missionary Committee in May, 1846. 
The first missionaries sent out were Judson Dwight 
Collins and Moses C. White, who sailed from 
Boston April 15, 1847, and reached Foochow Sep- 
tember 6. They were followed by Rev, Henry 
Hickok and Rev. Robert S. Maclay, who arrived 
April 15, 1848. In 1851 Rev. I. W. Wiley, after- 
ward Bishop, with his wife, the Rev. James Colder 
and wife and Miss M. Seely were added to the 
mission. Dr. Erastus Wentworth and Rev. Otis 
Gibson and their wives arrived in 1855, and Dr. S. 
L. Baldwin and wife, with the Misses Beulah and 
Sarah H. Woolston and Miss Phebe E. Potter, in 
1859, since which time numbers of missionaries 
have been added, a few have died, and some have 
from time to time retired from the work. Much 
attention has been given to the evangelistic work, 
and no mission in China has been more successful 
in winning converts and organizing them into 
churches than the mission at Foochow. The first 
converts were received in 1857. In 1862 the num- 
ber of members was 87. 

The mission sent out in 1867 the first mission- 
aries to Central China, Rev. V. C. Hart and Rev. 

E. S. Todd, who began work at Kiukiang, which 

170 



Protestant Churches 

work has now grown into the large and successful 
Central China Mission. In 1869 it also sent Rev. 
L. N. Wheeler and Rev. H. H. Lowry to Peking, 
who laid the foundations of the work of the North 
China Mission. 

The Foochow Conference was organized by 
Bishop Wiley December 6, 1867, by which time the 
number of members and probationers had reached 
2,011. The native preachers who were appointed 
presiding elders on the organization of this Confer- 
ence, namely, Hu Po Mi, Hu Yong Mi, Sia Sek 
Ong, Yek Ing Kwang, and Li Yu Mi, had been 
raised up in the mission; all having been converted 
as adults except Yek Ing Kwang, who was con- 
verted while a student in the boys' boarding school. 
The mission has continued to grow and prosper up 
to this date. 

In 1896 the work in the Hing Hua prefecture 
and surrounding regions had grown to such an ex- 
tent that a Mission Conference was organized and 
is making very rapid progress towards self-support. 
The North China Mission was organized as a Con- 
ference in 1894. 

The West China Mission in Sz-Chuen province 
was ordered by the General Missionary Committee 
in November, 1880, and Dr. L. N. Wheeler, for- 
merly of the Foochow and North China Missions, 
with his family, and Rev. Spencer Lewis and wife, 
sailed from San Francisco September 6, 1881, 

and arrived at Chung King December 3 . The mis- 

171 



Foreign Missions of the 



sion, although broken up by riot in 1885 and suffer- 
ing much tribulation at various times since that 
date, has been successful and is now well estab- 
lished. 

The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society has 
done most valuable work in China, and its pioneers, 
the Misses Woolston, Dr. Sigourney Trask, Miss 
Clara Cushman, Miss Gertrude Howe, Miss Lucy H. 
Hoag, M.D., and their successors, are held in grate- 
ful remembrance. The following table, compiled 
from the latest reports at hand, will show the present 
statistics of the missions in China in some important 
particulars : 





Members. 


Probationers. 


Total. 


Benevolent 
Contribut'ns. 


Self- 
support. 


Foochow 


4.349 
2,338 
i,53i 
3,738 
219 


4,301 

2,949 

2,478 

2,904 

118 


8,650 
5,287 
4,009 
6,642 

337 


$777 

1,885 

141 

529 

11 


$3,488 
4,156 

5,453 

3.563 

172 




Central China 

North China 


West China 






Total 


12,175 


12,750 


24,925 fHU.^6'; 


$17,832 









The mission to Japan was inaugurated in 1872; 
Dr. R. S. Maclay, who had been superintendent of 
the Foochow Mission for a quarter of a century, 
being appointed to open the work there. He ar- 
rived with his family in Yokohama June 11, 1873. 
Rev. J. C. Davison, Rev. Julius Soper and Rev. 

M. C. Harris were appointed at the outset. The 

172 



Protestant Churches 

Rev. I. H. Correll, who was originally appointed 
to Foochow but detained at Yokohama on account 
of the serious illness of his wife during the voyage, 
was also transferred to the Japan mission. The 
formal organization of the mission took place 
August 8, 1873, in Yokohama, under the presidency 
of Bishop Harris. It was decided to occupy at 
once stations in different portions of the empire, 
Hakodate being chosen for the North, Yokohama 
and Tokyo for the Center, and Nagasaki for the 
South. Other missionaries have been added, the 
evangelistic and educational work has been carried 
on with much energy, and although the work has 
been subject to many vicissitudes it has made 
noticeable progress. The Japan Conference was 
organized by Bishop Wiley at Yokohama August 
15, 1884, the number of members at that time being 
907 and probationers 241. In 1898 the South 
Japan Conference was organized, at which time 
there were in the whole empire over 5,000 communi- 
cants connected with the Church. The Woman's 
Foreign Missionary Society has nobly sustained 
its work in the empire since its first missionary, 
Miss Dora E. Schoonmaker, was sent out, in 1874. 
The names of such ladies as Miss Elizabeth Russell, 
Miss M. A. Spencer, Miss Minnie S. Hampton, 
and many others, are well known in the Christian 
world, and are a sufficient guarantee for faithful 
and successful work. 

Korea, so long known as "the hermit nation," 
173 



Foreign Missions of the 

had been open to foreign commerce and settlement 
but a short time when this Society entered upon 
work in that land. Dr. R. S. Maclay had pioneered 
the work by visiting the country and making a 
report on it to the Board at home. Dr. W. B. 
Scranton and Rev. H. G. Appenzeller were ap- 
pointed to open the mission and the work was begun, 
in 1885, at Seoul, the capital. In after years sta- 
tions were opened at Chemulpo, Pyeng Yang and 
Wonsan, and the work has been increasing in in- 
terest and importance. Mrs. M. F. Scranton, the 
mother of Dr. W. B. Scranton, was the pioneer of 
the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, and has 
been aided by a noble band of sisters who have since 
gone to the field. More than two thousand com- 
municants are now connected with the mission and 
the opportunities for successful work seem to be 
among the best in the whole foreign field. 

The work in India was begun in 1856 by the 
Rev. William Butler. After looking over the 
ground he chose the valley of the Ganges, in North- 
west India, as the field of operations. Assisted 
by Joel T. Janvier, a native interpreter given him 
by the American Presbyterian Mission at Allaha- 
bad, he began work in Bareilly. The next year the 
great Sepoy rebellion began. Dr. Butler and family, 
by a timely removal to Naini Tal, fortunately es- 
caped the mutineers, who were putting all foreign- 
ers to death. The journey to that place in the 
Himalayas was attended with great suffering from 

174 



Protestant Churches 

hunger, exposure and the hardships of travel, and 
was not without danger from wild beasts and as- 
sassins. Bareilly was re-occupied in 1859. Mean- 
time much had been done at Naini Tal and other 
convenient points. From these beginnings amid the 
trials and tribulations of a great uprising and 
massacre wonderful developments have followed. 
The work has spread all over India, across the 
border on the east into Burma, and on the south- 
east into Malaysia. In that territory there are 
now five Annual Conferences and one Mission 
Conference, and the total number of communicants 
is about 80,000. From the Malaysia Conference 
equipment for a mission in the Philippines has been 
obtained, under the superintendence of Bishop 
Thoburn. 

Among the early associates of Dr. Butler were 
Rev. Messrs. J. L. Humphrey, E. W. Parker, C. 
W. Judd, J. R. Downey and J. M. Thoburn. The 
work has been strongly reinforced in later years 
as occasion has demanded. 

The work of William Taylor in South India in 
1870 and following years led to the organization of 
English-speaking congregations in that part of the 
country and also to work among the natives. It 
was at first independent of the Missionary Society, 
but was connected with the India Conference, in 
1874, under the name of the Bombay and Bengal 
Mission, of which William Taylor was made super- 
intendent. Bishop Harris, arriving in Calcutta in 

i7S 



Foreign Missions of the 

December, 1873, transferred Rev. J. M. Thoburn 
from North India to Calcutta, to take the place of 
William Taylor, who wished to be relieved for 
further evangelistic work. Since that date the work 
has continued to grow in all directions. Dr. Tho- 
burn was elected Missionary Bishop of India and 
Malaysia by the General Conference of 1884. 

While there has been considerable progress in 
other portions of the work, the greatest successes of 
the mission have been attained in the old North 
India region, which is now divided into the North 
India and Northwest India Conferences, and where 
there are now over 70,000 communicants, with a 
much larger demand for preaching and the presence 
of teacher-pastors than the mission is able to meet. 
The work of the Woman's Foreign Missionary So- 
ciety has been very successful in this great field; 
from the time that Miss Isabella Thoburn and Dr. 
Clara A. Swain were sent out a number of most ex- 
cellent ladies have been sent to the field and their 
work has been crowned with great success. In the 
three branches, school work, evangelistic work, and 
medical work, it has been among the most notable 
agencies in promoting the spirit of Christianity in 
India. 

The work of the Society in Mexico was inaugu- 
rated by Dr. William Butler, founder of the mis- 
sion in India, in 1873, when the Empire of Maxi- 
milian had but recently been overthrown and 

Jesuits and other Roman Catholic orders had been 

176 



Protestant Churches 

expelled by the Juarez government. The ancient 
palace of Montezuma, in the City of Mexico, which 
had been occupied as a monastery for three cen- 
turies, was purchased to serve as headquarters of 
the Methodist Mission. Rev. Thomas Carter, D.D., 
arrived in Mexico March 13, 1873, and was fol- 
lowed by C. W. Drees and J. W. Butler, son of the 
superintendent, May 9, 1874. Property was pur- 
chased and work commenced in Puebla, and after- 
wards in Miraflores, Orizaba, Guanajuato, and 
other centers. An Annual Conference was organ- 
ized by Bishop W. L. Harris in Trinity Church, 
Mexico City, January 15, 1885. At that time there 
were 674 probationers and 625 full members. 
There are now over 5,000 communicants. The mis- 
sion has not been without severe persecution in 
some portions of the work at times, but has steadily 
grown, and the right to religious freedom has been 
strongly upheld by President Diaz wherever occa- 
sion demands. The Woman's Foreign Missionary 
Society has been an efficient helper in this as in 
other fields. Miss S. M. Warner and Miss Mary 
Hastings, the pioneers, went out in 1874, and have 
been followed by a noble band, prominent among 
whom in later years have been Miss Mary De F. 
Loyd, Miss Amelia Van Dorsten, Miss Harriet 
Ayres, and other efficient workers. 

There are nine other foreign missions of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, all in Europe. The 

prosperous work in Germany is due largely to 
(12) 177 



Foreign Missions of the 

the interest in the Germans caused by the conver- 
sion of William Nast and others in this country. 
He visited Germany in 1844, by appointment, and 
on his return it was determined to establish a mis- 
sion there. It succeeded, and the work spread to 
Switzerland. In these two countries there are three 
Conferences, with more than 18,000 members. Scan- 
dinavians who had been converted in this country, 
many of them in the Bethel ship "John Wesley" 
in the harbor of New York, carried the gospel back 
to Norway, where O. P. Peterson, who went out 
in 1849, had conducted successful revival meetings 
for nearly a year. Pie was appointed a missionary 
in 1853. From this have sprung the prosperous 
missions of Norway, Sweden and Denmark. An 
important work was begun in Finland in 1884, 
connected with which is also one church in St. 
Petersburg. Bulgaria was entered in 1857. This 
field has been a very difficult one and results have 
not been as encouraging as in the other missions of 
the Society. It embraces that part of the principal- 
ity lying north of the Balkans. The number of 
communicants is less than 250. The question of a 
mission to Italy was agitated more than forty years 
before the mission was actually begun. Dr. Leroy 
M. Vernon began the work in 187 1. A church 
was opened in 1873 in Bologna, and Florence was 
occupied in the same year, after which Milan and 
Perugia were entered and work was taken up in 

Rome in 1875. The Annual Conference was or- 

178 



Protestant Churches 

ganized in 1880. Dr. William Burt was sent out 
in 1885, and on Dr. Vernon's retirement from the 
mission in 1888, after seventeen years of faithful 
service, Dr. Burt was put in charge. This mission 
has had a less number of foreign laborers than any 
other foreign mission, and has at present but three 
on the field. The Woman's Foreign Missionary 
Society has done efficient school work under the di- 
rection of Miss Emma H. Hall and Miss Ella 
Vickery. Some men of distinction have been re- 
ceived into the mission from the Roman Catholic 
Church, and its work seems to have been of suffi- 
cient importance to attract the attention of the Pope, 
who has recently manifested his opposition to it 
and sanctioned with his blessing a society whose 
express purpose is to antagonize its work. There 
are at present over 2,000 communicants in this 
mission. 

The Society supports in all its foreign fields 
28 missions, which report an aggregate of more 
than 180,000 communicants. There are over 1,000 
churches and chapels, valued at two and three 
fourths million dollars; 16 theological schools, with 
314 students; 58 high schools with 4,622 pupils, 
and 32,000 pupils in day schools. There are 4,300 
Sunday schools, with 187,000 pupils. 

REFORMED (DUTCH) BOARD OF MISSIONS 

The Reformed Church was introduced into Amer- 
ica with the first Dutch settlers in New York, early 

179 



Foreign Missions of the 

in the seventeenth century, and in 1643 began to 
labor among the Mohawks. The sturdy Hollanders 
were among the first to catch the missionary spirit 
and become interested in what was done in Eng- 
land for missions at the close of the eighteenth cen- 
tury. In 1796 they united with Baptists and Pres- 
byterians in organizing the New York Missionary 
Society "for the purpose of offering their prayers 
to the God of grace, that he would be pleased to 
pour out his Spirit on his Church and send his Gos- 
pel to all nations." The Society, however, did not 
contemplate foreign missions, but hoped to do some- 
thing for the Indians. This was similar to other 
local societies which sprang up in various centers 
of population. In response to an invitation from 
the Presbyterian General Assembly in 18 16 the Re- 
formed General Synod appointed commissioners to 
arrange a plan for the formation of a Society for 
Foreign Missions. The result was the United Mis- 
sionary Society, formed the same year, for missionary 
work among the Indians in Mexico and South Amer- 
ica and in other portions of the heathen world. In 
it were associated the Presbyterian, Associate Re- 
formed and Dutch Reformed Churches. The mis- 
sions and property of the New York Missionary 
Society were conveyed to the new organization in 
1 82 1, and in 1826 the United Society was incor- 
porated with the American Board. 

In 1832 the Dutch Church resolved to have a 

Board of Foreign Missions of its own but carry 

180 



Protestant Churches 

on the work through the American Board. This 
cooperation continued until 1857, when a separa- 
tion was arranged by which the Arcot mission in 
India and the Amoy mission in China were ceded 
by the American Board to the Dutch Board. 
During this period the latter had its own treasury 
and appropriated its money to the support of mis- 
sionaries selected from its own Church, or to special 
objects, the American Board accepting the mission- 
aries so designated and conducting the missions. 
A number of missionaries were designated for a 
new mission in Borneo, begun in 1836 but discon- 
tinued in 1849, an d some of the missionaries went 
to Amoy. 

In 1850 a work among the Tamils in India was 
undertaken. The Rev. John Scudder, M.D., who 
had been laboring in Ceylon since 18 19, removed to 
Madras in 1836 and labored in connection with 
that mission. In 1846 he was joined by his eldest 
son, Henry Martyn Scudder. The latter settled at 
Arcot in 1850, and was joined in 1852 by his 
brothers William and Joseph. This was the foun- 
dation of the present flourishing Arcot mission. 

The Church believed that it could best develop its 
missionary spirit and resources by independent or- 
ganization, and accordingly separation took place in 
1857. In that year the Church's income amounted 
to $12,304; the next year it doubled. In the first 
ten years after separation the receipts reached a to- 
tal of $469,067 ; nearly twice as much as had been 

181 



Foreign Missions of the 

raised in the previous quarter of a century. In- 
cluding contributions on the mission field the Board 
now raises about $125,000 a year. 

The Board consists of twenty-four members cho- 
sen by the General Synod for the term of three 
years, one third of the number changing every year. 
Half of the members must be ministers. The Board 
meets once a quarter. The immediate oversight of 
the business of the Board is committed to an Execu- 
tive Committee, of five ministers and five laymen, 
elected annually by the Board. The schedule of ap- 
propriations is prepared by the Finance Commit- 
tee of three chosen by the Executive Committee, 
from estimates received from the missions, and is 
approved by the Board. One corresponding secre- 
tary is employed. 

The missions of the Board are in India, China, 
Japan, and among Arabic-speaking Moslems and 
slaves. 

The Arcot mission in India has already been men- 
tioned. The Amoy mission in China is among a 
population of about 3,000,000. That of Japan, be- 
longing to the "United Church of Christ in Japan," 
has three stations. It was established in 1859. The 
Arabian mission, begun independently by Prof. J. 
G. Lansing and three others in 1889, was received 
under the care of the Board in 1894. 

In all, the Board has 22 stations, 89 American mis- 
sionaries, 282 native laborers, 47 churches and 

5,564 communicants. 

182 



Protestant Churches 

reformed ( german) board 
The Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed 
Church in the United States was the outcome of a 
suggestion of the Board of Home Missions, and was 
organized in 1838, at Lancaster, Penn. From 1840 
to 1865 it contributed to the support of the Rev. Ben- 
jamin Schneider, D.D., laboring under the auspices 
of the American Board. At the latter date, the 
Church decided to withdraw its support from the 
American Board and to have missions of its own. 
Until its mission in Japan was established it divided 
its funds between the Winnebago Indians and a mis- 
sion in India. Since the opening of the Japan mis- 
sion, following on the reorganization of the Board 
in 1873, that has been its only foreign mission. 
There are two stations, 56 out-stations, 16 Amer- 
ican and $7 native laborers, 8 churches, and 1,950 
communicants. 

The Board consists of twelve members — 8 cler- 
ical and 4 lay — elected by the General Synod. The 
officers and an additional member chosen by the 
Board constitute the Executive Committee, charged 
with administrative oversight. 

The annual income is about $28,000. 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD 

The earliest mission work done by the Presby- 
terian Church as a denomination among the In- 
dians was through a Scottish Society for the "Prop- 
agation of Christian Knowledge," and the begin- 

183 



Foreign Missions of the 

ning was in 1741. Azariah Horton and David 
Brainerd, names not destined soon to be forgotten, 
were the first missionaries. Those who succeeded 
them were supported almost entirely by funds raised 
by American Presbyterian churches which took a 
lively interest in the work. After the Revolutionary 
War these missions were almost abandoned until 
1 796, when they were renewed under the supervision 
of the New York Missionary Society, representing 
nearly all the churches. Next year the Northern 
Missionary Society was formed and shared in the 
work. In 1800 the General Assembly determined to 
enter this field. Collections were taken, missionaries 
appointed, and good results secured. In 181 8 the 
United Foreign Missionary Society, representing 
the Presbyterian, Reformed Dutch, and Associate 
Reformed Churches, was organized "to spread the 
Gospel among the Indians of North America, the 
inhabitants of Mexico and South America, and 
other portions of the heathen and anti-Christian 
world." This Society represented the interests of 
the Presbyterian Church in missions until 1826, 
when the entire work was transferred to the Amer- 
ican Board. There were Presbyterians, however, 
who desired to prosecute foreign missions under 
Presbyterian auspices, and in 1831 the Western 
Foreign Missionary Society was formed by the 
Synod of Pittsburg, which established missions 
among the Indians, in India, and in Africa. In 

1837, the work was handed over to a Board or- 

184 



Protestant Churches 

ganized by the General Assembly. The next year 
the Church was divided, and the New School branch 
continued to contribute to the American Board, 
while the Old School Assembly carried on its work 
through the Board formed in 1837. When the re- 
union took place, in 1870, the united Church sup- 
ported the Presbyterian Board. 

The Board formerly consisted of 120 members, 
represented by an Executive Committee of persons 
residing in or near New York City, where the of- 
fices of the Board are maintained. In 1870 the 
Board was reduced to fifteen members, and there is 
no executive committee. There are four Corre- 
sponding Secretaries who, with the Treasurer, pre- 
pare the business for the Board, proposing a solu- 
tion for every question, which the Board may or 
may not adopt, as it sees fit. 

The earliest missions of the Board were among 
the North American Indians, as already indicated. 
These are now regarded as within the home mis- 
sion field. 

Taking up the missions of the Board in a geo- 
graphical rather than a chronological order, we 
will first describe the fields in the Western world. 
Owing to the successful work among the Mexican 
population of the United States, carried on for many 
years by a woman, Miss Matilda Rankin, the Board 
entered Mexico in 1872, and found several congre- 
gations in the capital ready for its guiding hand. 
It began at once to prepare natives for the ministry 

185 



Foreign Missions of the 

and gradually pushed its work out into the sur- 
rounding country. Zacatecas, occupied in 1873, be- 
came the center of a sphere of operations in North- 
ern Mexico. 

The Board was attracted to Guatemala in 1882 
by the expulsion of the Jesuits and the proclama- 
tion of religious liberty. At first the work was in 
English ; subsequently Spanish missions were estab- 
lished. No other Protestant missions had been un- 
dertaken in the Republic. 

The first Presbyterian mission in South America 
was opened in Buenos Ayres in 1853, but abandoned 
in 1859. The oldest existing mission of the Board 
was begun in the United States of Colombia in 1856, 
at Bogota. The opposition of the Roman priesthood 
has been very strong, and the work has been dif- 
ficult. A second mission, at Barranquilla, was es- 
tablished in 1888. The Chili mission, now con- 
ducted by the Board, was received in 1873 from the 
American and Foreign Christian Union, an unde- 
nominational organization in New York City which 
gave up its work some years ago. The Chili mis- 
sion has centers at Santiago, Valparaiso and Con- 
cepcion. The Rev. Ashbel Green Simonton began 
missionary work in the capital of Brazil in 1859. 
While studying Portuguese he taught English. 
His first congregation consisted of two of his pupils, 
his second of three. Gradually the number of hear- 
ers increased, and the gospel was preached in other 

towns in the province with good results. Sao 

186 



Protestant Churches 

Paulo, in Southern Brazil, was occupied as a second 
center in 1863. A very important educational work 
is carried on. Union with the churches of the 
Southern Presbyterian Board was accomplished in 
1889, and there are several presbyteries and a Synod 
of Brazil. Of the twenty provinces, twelve are rep- 
resented in the Synod. 

In Africa the Board has two missions : one, in 
Liberia, begun in 1833 at Monrovia and extended 
to the Kroo Coast and in the Vey and Bassa coun- 
try, and organized into the Presbytery of Western 
Africa in 1848; the other — Gaboon — received from 
the American Board in 1870 and added to the 
Corisco mission. The latter. is an offshoot of the 
Liberian mission. The territory occupied by the 
mission is partly under French, partly under Ger- 
man and partly under Portuguese control. This 
adds to the difficulty of the work of the missionaries, 
who minister to a superstitious, ignorant and polyg- 
amous people. In the interior some of them are or 
have been cannibals. 

Both the Syrian and Persian missions were re- 
ceived from the American Board. The former dates 
from 1818, the latter from 1829. In Syria educa- 
tion for both sexes has proved a strong and success- 
ful missionary arm. Good training is given, and in 
the theological seminary young men are fitted for 
the ministry. The Syrian Protestant College, 
though independent of the Board, has made Beirut 
an important center of Protestant influence. The 

187 



Foreign Missions of the 

mission in Persia is to the Nestorians, who consti- 
tute a branch of the Eastern Church and, like other 
Oriental Christians, need the gospel. Urumiah, 
Tabriz, Hamadan, and other places, are occupied. 

The Rev. John C. Lowrie, afterward to become 
Corresponding Secretary of the Board, was sent to 
India by the Western Society in 1833, with the Rev. 
Wm. Reed, and they established a mission in Lodi- 
ana, near the border of the Punjab, in the Northwest 
Provinces. From Lodiana the work was carried 
into the Punjab and into South India. Several of 
the missionaries fell in the mutiny. 

Siam was occupied in 1840, but little could be 
done until after the death of the king, in 1851. 
The new king had been under the instruction of a 
missionary of the American Board, and at once 
adopted a liberal policy. The first convert was not 
baptized until 1859; but publication, educational and 
medical work was successful, and the mission is 
prosperous. A station was established in the Laos 
country in 1867. For a time persecution was severe, 
but religious liberty was secured in 1878. 

The first year of its organization, 1837, tne Pres- 
byterian Board sent two missionaries to work 
among the Chinese in Singapore. In 1843 tne mis- 
sion was transferred to China. There are now three 
missions, known as the Central, including Ningpo, 
Shanghai, Hangchau, Suchau and Nanking, the 
Shantung, comprising Tungchau, Chefu, Chenan-fu 

and other stations, and the Peking. 

188 



Protestant Churches 

The Japan mission was founded in 1859 by Dr. 
James C. Hepburn and others. Work was begun at 
Kanagawa, near Tokyo, in a heathen temple from 
which the idols were cast. Subsequently the mission 
was removed to Yokohama at the instance of the 
Japanese authorities, who did not want foreigners 
in the town. In 1869 tne first converts were bap- 
tized, and in 1872 a period of prosperity began. In 
1877 the churches under the care of several Pres- 
byterian and Reformed Boards united in organiz- 
ing the "United Church of Christ in Japan," which 
has a complete ecclesiastical system, with a Con- 
fession of Faith, and maintains a theological sem- 
inary for the training of students for the ministry. 

A mission was established at Seoul, the capital of 
Korea, in 1884, and success has attended it from the 
first. 

The annual income of the Board is between $800,- 
000 and $900,000, and it has about 35,000 commu- 
nicants in connection with its 115 stations and 933 
out-stations, 280 male and 416 female American 
missionaries, and 364 churches. 

SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN BOARD 

When the Civil War separated the Presbyterian 
Churches, Old and New Schools, on sectional lines, 
the consequent formation of a new foreign board 
by the two Southern bodies of the Presbyterian 
Church in the United States was necessary. The 
work is under the charge of an Executive Commit- 



Foreign Missions of the 

tee, and is administered by a Corresponding Sec- 
retary, with an Assistant. There is also a Treasurer. 

At the time of the separation some of the mis- 
sionaries in the field were from the South. Cor- 
respondence with them resulted in some cases in 
an agreement to represent the Southern Board in 
their respective fields. The Board also adopted some 
of the Indian missions within the bounds of the 
Church and cared for them until they were turned 
over to the Home Board in 1889. 

The Board organized a mission in China, appoint- 
ing for this purpose the Rev. E. B. Inslee, who had 
been serving the Northern Board at Hangchau. 
The mission now includes four stations : Hangchau, 
Suchau, Chinkiang and Tsing-Kiang-pu. 

Miss Ronzone, as an appointee of the Board, be- 
gan educational work in Naples, Italy, in 1867, 
and subsequently removed to Milan. 

In 1868 several missionaries were sent to Brazil, 
where the Board now has three missions — Southern, 
Northern and Interior. These missions have 
achieved encouraging results, especially that in the 
State or Province of Minas-Geraes, in the interior. 

A mission begun in Mexico, across the Texas 
border, in 1874, has been gradually extended. 

Two churches were organized in Cuba in 1890 
and 1 89 1 — one in Havana, the other in Santa Clara. 

A mission to the Greeks in Macedonia was be- 
gun at Salonica in 1874, and has been prosecuted 

with varied results. 

190 



Protestant Churches 

The Japan mission was begun in 1885 by two 
missionaries. The Board has four stations. Its 
churches belong to the United Church of Christ in 
Japan. 

Convinced that duty required it to do something 
for the redemption of Africa the Board appointed, 
in 1890, a white and a colored minister to establish 
a mission in the Congo country. The colored min- 
ister. W. H. Sheppard, had been educated in the 
Tuscaloosa Theological Seminary established by the 
Church for colored students. They chose as their 
field of operations the Upper Congo and its tribu- 
tary, the Kassai. 

The Southern Board, with 40 stations and 126 
out-stations, has 2,948 communicants on its mission 
fields, gathered into 34 churches. Its annual in- 
come is between $140,000 and $150,000. 

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN BOARD 

This Church was formed in 1858 by a union of 
the Associate Presbyterian and Associated Re- 
formed Churches. Each of these Presbyterian 
branches had conducted foreign missions on its own 
account, and a new Board was organized in 1859. 
The Board consists of nine members chosen by the 
General Assembly, which also appoints the Cor- 
responding Secretary. The Board controls the 
foreign missions of the Church. 

Formerly the Board had missionaries in Trinidad, 
Syria, China, Egypt and India. For some years it 
o 191 



Foreign Missions of the 

has conducted its whole foreign operations in the 
last two fields, in which it has large and prosperous 
interests. 

The mission in India was begun by the Associate 
Church at Sialkot, in the Punjab. It has been ex- 
tended to include eight districts. The methods 
used to advance the work are the evangelistic, the 
educational, the zenana and the medical. 

The Egyptian mission also came to the Board 
after it had been organized. The first missionary 
arrived in Cairo in 1854. The Khedive at that 
time, Said Pasha, was a liberal minded ruler and 
did not oppose the new mission. The mission was 
reinforced and in a short time there was a Presby- 
tery of Egypt. The field of operations was chiefly 
among the Copts, a corrupt body of Oriental Chris- 
tians. Both Moslems and Copts, outside of Cairo 
and Alexandria, opposed the missionaries. Mission 
schools and Christian publications were effective in 
rooting and developing gospel truths. The first 
native Protestant Church was organized in Cairo in 
1863. The work was gradually extended up the 
Nile, and has become very prosperous. 

The Board has in its two missions 60 churches, 
with 7,940 communicants. Its income in 1898 was 
$ 1 14,000. 

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN BOARD 

This branch of Presbyterianism grew out of a 
great revival in the Cumberland Valley, in Ten- 
nessee, in the early years of the nineteenth century. 

192 



Protestant Churches 

The revival movement was carried on by meth- 
ods new to the Presbyterians and was accompanied 
by teachings which many of them regarded as erro- 
neous. The result was a separate denomination. 

As early as 1818 the Church began mission work 
among the Indians. The Board, which was organ- 
ized in 1845, has both home and foreign work 
under its control. It established missions in Li- 
beria in 1857, m Turkey in i860, in Trinidad in 
1873, each of which has been discontinued. Its 
present work is in Japan and Mexico. The Mex- 
ican mission was begun in 1886. 

The Board has 8 churches and 802 communicants. 
Its annual income is above $20,000. 

REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN BOARDS 

The first attempts of the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church (Synod) to establish foreign missions 
failed. Its single mission at present is the Latakia, 
in Syria. The original purpose was to reach the 
Jews at Damascus or Zahleh. Later an opening 
was made at Latakia among the Nusairiyeh, nomi- 
nally a Moslem people but really degraded worship- 
ers of the sun and moon. There are branches at 
Suadea and Mersine, and also in the island of Cy- 
prus. 

Another branch of Reformed Presbyterians, dis- 
tinguished as the General Synod, began a mission 
in India, in the Northwest Provinces, in 1836; there 
are twelve churches and nearly 1,200 members. 
(13) 193 



Foreign Missions of the 

southern baptist board 
The organization of this Board in 1845 was due 
to a division of the Regular Baptists on account 
of slavery. The question was raised in 1844 
whether a person holding slaves could be appointed 
as a missionary. The answer of the Board of 
Foreign Missions of the Triennial Convention was 
that such a person could not be appointed. "We 
can never be a party," the Board said, "to any ar- 
rangement that would imply approbation of slav- 
ery." The Southern churches adopted the original 
constitution of the Convention, and claimed that 
the Southern Convention is the proper successor of 
the Triennial Convention. The Southern Baptist 
Convention meets annually, and consists of the 
Board of Foreign Missions, the Board of Home 
Missions, and other denominational societies. 

Some of the missionaries in the field elected to 
serve the Southern Board ; notably in China, where 
there are now three missions — Canton, Shanghai 
and Shantung. The mission property in Shang- 
hai was destroyed during the Tai-ping rebellion, 
but indemnity was given afterward. The mission 
in Shantung dates from i860. 

The Convention has an important work in Africa, 
begun in 1846 in Liberia. From Liberia the work 
was extended into the Yoruba country and to 
Sierra Leone. War in Yoruba and other causes 
led to the suspension of that mission for some 

years, but the field was reoccupied in 1875. The 

194 



Protestant Churches 

Liberian mission was closed and Lagos became the 
center of operations. 

The Rev. J. W. Bowen went to Rio de Janeiro, 
Brazil, in the service of the Board in i860. His 
health failed and the mission was suspended for 
twelve years, when work was renewed. Flourish- 
ing stations exist at the capital, in Pernambuco, 
Bahia, Maceio, and Juiz de Froa, in the State of 
Minas-Geraes. 

The Italy mission, begun in 1890, has twelve 
stations, including Rome, Milan, Venice, Bologna, 
Modena and Naples, and two stations on the is- 
land of Sardinia. 

A mission to Japan was planned as early as i860, 
when three missionaries were appointed. Two 
were prevented from going by the outbreak of the 
Civil War; one sailed, but never reached his desti- 
nation. Two missionaries were sent out in 1889, 
and a station was established at Kobe. 

The annual income of the Board is about 
$125,000. On the various fields it has 102 churches, 
with 4,760 members. 

FREEWILL BAPTIST SOCIETY 

Free or Freewill Baptists differ from Regular 
Baptists respecting the distinctive doctrines of Cal- 
vinism, but immerse on confession of faith. They 
organized the Freewill Baptist Foreign Missionary 
Society in 1832, under the influence of inspiring 
letters from English General Baptist missionaries, 

195 



Foreign Missions of the 

and the first mission of the Society was established 
in India in 183 s, when four missionaries, including 
two women, were sent out. The first station was 
at Sumbalpur, in the hill district of Orissa. Sum- 
balpur proved to be unhealthy and it was aban- 
doned for Balasore, in the same district. The work 
was successfully prosecuted, and other districts 
were occupied. The Santhals, a hill tribe, very 
degraded, were effectually reached by Mr, Phillips, 
one of the first missionaries, who reduced their 
spoken language to a written one. There are twelve 
churches in connection with this mission, with 791 
communicants. The income of the Society is 
about $26,000. 

BOARD OF MISSIONS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH, SOUTH 

The division in the Methodist Episcopal Church 
in 1844 ted to the organization of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South, in 1845, an d to a 
Board of Missions in 1846, when the first General 
Conference was held. Originally both the home 
and foreign fields were under the direction of one 
society. The work was divided in 1866, but re- 
united in 1870. The constitution was again so 
changed in 1874 by the General Conference that 
the Board has charge of all foreign missions and 
of such domestic missions as are not under the care 
of annual conferences. 

The Board consists of twenty-five managers, 
196 



Protestant Churches 

with a president, vice president, and three secretaries. 
The Bishops are members ex officio. The Board 
meets annually to determine what fields shall be 
occupied, the number of persons to be employed 
in each, to make appropriations, and to apportion 
to the conferences the amounts to be raised. Each 
annual conference provides for the work within 
its bounds and has a board auxiliary to the general 
board. 

The first work of the Board was among the Ne- 
groes and Indians, and large results were achieved 
in both fields. 

Dr. Charles Taylor laid the foundations of the 
first foreign mission in Shanghai, China, in 1848. 
The work opened auspiciously, but was interrupted 
by sickness of the missionaries and the Tai-ping 
rebellion. In 1854 a new start was made, but war, 
sickness and death supervened, and little was accom- 
plished until i860, when reinforcements were sent 
out. Trials and reverses continued until 1879, when 
a period of encouragement and growth began. 
Connected with the mission for some years were 
the Rev. Young J. Allen and Dr. J. W. Lambuth. 

The conversion of an educated Mexican, Alijo 
Hernandez, who became an effective preacher to 
Mexicans on the Texan border, led to the opening of 
a mission in the City of Mexico, in 1873. Other 
cities and towns were occupied, and in 1886 the 
Central Mexico Mission Conference was organ- 
ized. There is also a Mexican Border Mission 

197 



Foreign Missions of the 

Conference which was created in the same year, 
and includes churches on both sides the border, in 
Texas and in Mexico. 

A mission in Brazil was begun in 1875, m the 
province of Sao Paulo. Two years later a station 
was established in the capital. 

In 1886 Dr. J. W. Lambuth, who had been con- 
nected with the mission in China, was appointed, 
with W. R. Lambuth, also in China, and O. A. 
Dukes, to begin mission work in Japan. They 
chose Kobe as a center. The mission was successful 
from the first. 

The Board has 216 churches with 8,298 com- 
municants in its various fields. Its income in 1898 
was nearly $355,000. 

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

The Protestant Episcopal Church conducts its 
operations in both the home and foreign fields 
through one Society. The Domestic and Foreign 
Missionary Society was instituted in 1820, but 
comparatively little was done in the next ten years. 
A lay teacher had been sent to Africa and two 
clergymen to Greece. These were the first mission- 
aries of the Church. They were commissioned in 
1830. 

At the session of the General Convention of the 
Church, which is triennial, the Bishops and dep- 
uties, together with the Board of Managers and 

the Treasurers of the Society, sit as a Board of 

198 



Protestant Churches 

Missions. This Board elects a Board of Managers, 
consisting of fifteen clergymen and fifteen laymen, 
of which board the Bishops and Treasurers are 
members ex officio. A committee consisting of 
eight laymen and seven clergymen, from the Board 
of Managers, acts in an executive capacity. 

The mission in Greece was intended to awaken 
and instruct, but not to proselyte, nominal Chris- 
tians. The work as now conducted is entirely 
educational. The schools are in Athens. 

The China mission was begun in 1835, among the 
Chinese in Batavia, on the island of Java. Five 
years later Amoy, in China, was occupied, but was 
abandoned in the following year for Shanghai. 
The Rev. J. W. Boone, who began the mission in 
Amoy, was made Missionary Bishop, the first of the 
Anglican communion in that empire. Wuchang, 
in Hupeh province, was occupied as an important 
center in 1868, and there are now many stations in 
Northern and Central China, where educational, 
evangelistic and medical work is carried on. 

The Rev. C. M. Williams and the Rev. J. Lig- 

gins, sent out in 1859, were the first Protestant 

missionaries, it is said, to settle in Japan. The first 

baptism was reported in 1866. In 1874 Japan was 

constituted a separate missionary jurisdiction, and 

Bishop Williams, who had exercised episcopal 

supervision from China over both fields, became 

the first Bishop of Japan. The chief centers of 

missionary work are Tokyo and Osaka. 

199 



Foreign Missions of the 

The mission in Hayti, in charge of the Rev. J. T, 
Holly, was received from the American Church 
Missionary Society in 1865. Nine years later Dr. 
Holly was consecrated Bishop of Hayti. 

The African mission is in Liberia. It has been 
a missionary bishopric since 1850. The principal 
tribes reached are the Grebos, the Bassas and the 
Veys. 

The Society has 61 churches in its foreign fields, 
with 4,880 communicants, and received in 1898 
$281,000. 

AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY 

Organized in 181 6 to print and circulate the 
Scriptures, the American Bible Society has occu- 
pied both the home and foreign fields. It is un- 
denominational, and is supported in part by col- 
lections taken in the evangelical churches and in 
part by proceeds of its sales, and from other sources. 
It has been the greatest possible help to the foreign 
missionary societies, printing versions of the Scrip- 
tures in various languages and circulating them 
by its own agencies, appropriating annually sup- 
plies for the use of the missions. It works in en- 
tire harmony with the missionary societies. The 
versions it has published, either of the whole or 
portions of the Bible, have been very numerous. 
Those of the New Testament alone number more 
than four score. Its operations have extended to 
all the fields where American missionaries have 

labored. One of its agencies is for Spanish South 

200 



Protestant Churches 

America ; another, the Levant, is for Turkey, East- 
ern Roumelia, part of Bulgaria, Syria and Egypt. 
This agency reaches many races and circulates the 
Bible in many languages. It is printed in Arabic, 
Turkish (in three characters), Armenian (in three 
dialects), Greek (in two), Kurdish, Persian, Syriac 
(ancient and modern), Hebrew, Judeo-Spanish, 
Bulgarian, Slavic, Roumanian, Croatian, Russian 
and all the languages of Europe. There is also an 
agency for China and one for Japan and Korea, 
not to mention other countries. The value of the 
work done by the Society in 1898 was $266,000. 

OTHER SOCIETIES OF THE UNITED STATES 

Almost every denomination has shown its con- 
cern for the evangelization of the world by striving 
to support one or more missionaries in the foreign 
field. In some instances, where the income is small, 
the work is done through the society or board of 
a larger denomination with whose principles and 
doctrines there is more or less agreement. But 
many bodies of less than ten thousand members 
maintain their own foreign mission. 

I. The Disciples of Christ is one of the larger 

denominations, having over a million of members. 

It has grown recently with wonderful rapidity, 

having almost doubled its numbers in the last ten 

or twelve years. It owes its origin to Alexander 

Campbell and other Baptists in the beginning of the 

nineteenth century. Campbell was originally a 

201 



Foreign Missions of the 

Scotch Presbyterian. He became a Baptist after 
he arrived in this country, and left the Baptists to 
found a denomination which should have no creed 
but the Bible, and no divisive name or principle. 
It was hoped that a basis would be found for the 
union of all believers in Christ. The Disciples 
baptize by immersion for the remission of sins, and 
administer the communion every Sunday. Because 
of the extent of its home work the denomination 
did not enter the foreign field until the last quarter 
of the century. Its foreign missionary society 
was organized in 1875. Its first field was Denmark. 
From Denmark the work spread to Sweden and 
Norway. In 1879 a mission to Turkey was begun 
which has attained large proportions, with stations 
in many places. Work was begun in the central 
provinces of India in 1882, in Japan in 1883, an d 
in China in 1884. The denomination is also rep- 
resented in Great Britain, Australia, and other 
countries. It reports 63 churches in its foreign 
fields, 1,426 communicants, and its income is con- 
siderably above $100,000. 

II. The Lutheran communion embraces in its 
various divisions in this country more than a mil- 
lion and a half of communicants. It has been 
chiefly occupied in caring for immigrants from 
Lutheran countries in Europe, who have come in 
great numbers. Three of the general bodies, the 
General Synod, which is the oldest, and the General 

Council, which is one of the largest, and the United 

202 



Protestant Churches 

Synod of the South, have missions abroad. The 
Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod 
was organized in 1837. Its first mission was opened 
in India in 1842, in Guntur, in cooperation with the 
American Board, but this plan was abandoned at 
the end of the first year. The mission has been 
well supported and has been prosperous. Educa- 
tional, evangelistic, medical and zenana work has 
been done at several stations. The Muhlenberg 
Mission, in Africa, was begun in 1859 in Liberia. 
To the educational and evangelistic arms was 
added an industrial feature, which has been very 
successful in giving the natives a knowledge of 
systematic farming and of the useful trades. The 
income of the society is upward of $42,000. 

The General Council began foreign mission work 
in 1869 when it received from the General Synod 
two stations in Southern India, the Rajahmundry 
and Samulcotta. This mission is supported at an 
annual cost of about $20,000. 

The United Synod of the South has an important 
work in Japan, begun in 1892. 

III. The United Brethren in Christ, a denomina- 
tion of Methodistic usages and principles formed at 
the beginning of the century by Germans, organ- 
ized its Home, Frontier and Foreign Missionary 
Society in 1853, and established its first foreign 
mission among the Sherbro people in West Africa, 
where it has a large and prosperous work. The 

Society also has missions in Bavaria, in Germany, 

203 



Foreign Missions of the 

and in China and Japan, begun in 1889. It has 
57 churches and 6,056 communicants in its foreign 
fields. Its income is about $42,000 a year. 

IV. The Methodist Protestant Church did some 
foreign missionary work before it organized its 
own board in 1882. It has an important mission 
in Japan, at Yokohama, Fusiyama and Nagoya. 

V. The Free Methodist Church has missions in 
Japan and India with six stations and two out- 
stations, four churches, and 68 communicants. 

VI. The American Wesleyans have one foreign 
mission, in Freetown, West Africa. 

VII. The Evangelical Association, a Methodistic 
organization resulting from evangelistic work among 
the Germans at the beginning of the century by 
Albright and others, has had a missionary society 
since 1839. Its first fields were at home and in 
Canada. In 1850 it began work in Germany, and 
later in Switzerland and Japan. 

VIII. The Christian Church, a body organized in 
the early years of the present century, on the basis 
of no creed but the Bible, no divisive title, and the 
unity of believers, has had a foreign board since 
1886. It has one foreign mission, in Japan, begun 
in 1887. 

IX. The American Friends cooperate with the 
English Friends in missionary work in India and 
Syria, and have a mission in Mexico. 

X. The German Evangelical Svnod represents in 

the United States the State Church of Prussia, 

204 



Protestant Churches 

which was formed by the union of the Lutherans 
and the Reformed elements. It formerly contributed 
to foreign missions through societies in Germany. 
In 1884 it took up the work of the German Evan- 
gelical Society, which had been supported by Ger- 
mans of several denominations. There was a 
mission in India, at Bisrampore, which has become a 
center of influence. There are four churches with 
807 members. 

XL The Associate Reformed Synod of the South, 
a small body which did not enter the union which 
made the United Presbyterian Church, has a mis- 
sion in Mexico. It began its foreign missionary 
work in 1875, when it sent a missionary to Egypt. 
On her death it shifted its field of operations to 
Tamaulipas, Mexico. 

XII. The African Methodist Episcopal Church, 
the largest colored Methodist body in the United 
States, began missionary work in Africa in 1886, 
and has considerable interests in Sierra Leone and 
in South Africa. The Church also has missions in 
Hayti. 

XIII. The German Baptists, or Dunkards, 
zealous and peculiar Bible Christians who came 
from Germany in the eighteenth century and are 
now divided into four branches, have had mission 
work in Denmark and Sweden for many years, the 
former begun in 1875, tne latter in 1885. It is the 
conservative and more numerous branch that sup- 
ports these missions. 

205 



Foreign Missions of the 

XIV. One branch of the Mennonites, known as 
the General Conference, has a foreign missionary 
society which began work among the Indians in 
1880. It has no mission abroad. 

XV. The Seventh Day Baptists, one of the old- 
est and also one of the smallest denominations in 
this country, have a mission in Shanghai, China, 
begun in 1847, an< ^ missions in Belgium, Holland, 
and among the Jews in Austria. 

XVI. The Seventh Day Adventists, a branch of 
the movement which was led by William Miller in 
the forties, are very active in missionary work, 
which is carried on very systematically. The 
foreign missions are chiefly in Christian countries, 
including Great Britain, Australia, various Euro- 
pean countries, the West Indies, and Canada. They 
also have missions in India, China, Japan, Africa, 
several groups of Pacific Islands, and Mexico and 
South America. They have in Great Britain and 
Europe 5,646 members, in Australia, 1,713, and in 
other foreign countries, exclusive of Canada, 1,800. 

XVII. The National Baptist Convention, rep- 
resenting colored Baptists, has a foreign mission- 
ary board located at Louisville. The colored Bap- 
tists have done more or less missionary work in 
Africa and in Hayti. 

CANADIAN FOREIGN MISSION SOCIETIES 

There are six foreign boards or societies in 

Canada: one each for the Congregationalists, 

206 



Protestant Churches 

Methodists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians, and 
two for the Baptists. 

I. The Congregationalists of Canada formed a 
foreign missionary society in 1881, supporting mis- 
sionaries of the American Board in Turkey and 
Japan. In 1886 a missionary was sent to Africa. 

II. The Methodist Church of Canada has had a 
missionary society since 1824. It is both home and 
foreign in its scope. It has done much work among 
the Indians, with very encouraging results. It has 
a mission in Bermuda, but its most important 
foreign work is in Japan. This mission was begun 
in 1873, in Tokyo. There are several stations and 
a considerable body of communicants. The so- 
ciety raises for its foreign work about $42,000 a 
year. 

III. The Presbyterian Church of Canada is the 
result of the union of four bodies in 1875. The 
united Church consolidated the existing mission in- 
terests in one board. It has a mission in the New 
Hebrides, which is carried on in cooperation with 
the missions of Scottish Churches, one in Trinidad, 
one in Central India, one in Formosa, and one in 
Honan, China. The city of Indore is the center of 
the work in India. The Formosa mission has been 
made famous by the heroic work of the Rev. 
George L. Mackay, who married a Chinese woman 
and identified himself with the interests of the 
people. For a time he was severely persecuted, but 

he won the confidence of the inhabitants, and the 

207 



Foreign Missions of the 

mission has been very successful. The Honan 
field was occupied strongly in 1889. The society 
has large mission interests among the Indians. 

IV. The Church of England in Canada organ- 
ized a missionary society in 1883. What it does in 
the foreign field is done through other organi- 
zations. 

V. The Baptists of Canada raised money for 
foreign missions long before they maintained mis- 
sions of their own. They supported missionaries 
in connection with the American Baptist Mission- 
ary Union. In 1867 the Baptists of Ontario and 
Quebec sent out their first missionaries to the 
heathen. They went to Madras and Burma, 
laboring under the direction of the American 
Baptist Missionary Union. Two independent or- 
ganizations were formed in 1873, one by the Mari- 
time Provinces and the other by the Provinces of 
Ontario and Quebec. They unite in support of the 

mission in the Northern Telugu country in India. 

208 



Protestant Churches 



CHAPTER X 

Women's Foreign Missionary Societies 

Every denomination having foreign missions has, 
with few exceptions, one women's missionary society 
or more. There were such societies as early as 1800, 
although they did not work specifically for foreign 
missions. After the American Board was organ- 
ized women's societies auxiliary to it were formed, 
one as early as 18 12, and Baptist, Presbyterian 
and Methodist societies came into existence before 
1820. None of these societies carried on opera- 
tions abroad under its own direction. They collected 
money and turned it over to the regular societies 
of their respective churches. It was not until 1834 
that women's societies were organized for work in 
the mission field. In that year, in response to an 
appeal from the Rev. David Abeel, of China, for 
women missionaries to reach the women of India 
and China, the Society for Promoting Female Edu- 
cation in the East was created in England. Other 
societies of the same kind came speedily into exist- 
ence, including one for the Wesleyan Church, one 
for the Free and one for the Established Church of 
Scotland. 

The first society of the kind in the United States 

was formed in 1861 on undenominational lines. It 
(14) 209 



Foreign Missions of the 

was called the Woman's Union Missionary Society 
for Heathen Lands. The Society's first mission- 
ary, Miss Marston, went out the same year to 
Burma. The sphere of operations of this society 
has been in India, China, and Japan. Zenana 
work has been the leading feature of its operations. 
In common with other women's societies it also car- 
ries on evangelistic, educational, and medical work, 
and employs many Bible women, chiefly natives. 

This is the only independent and undenomina- 
tional society in the United States. There are 
three such societies in England : the Society for 
Promoting Female Education in the East, already 
mentioned, which has missionaries in Palestine, 
Persia, India, China, Japan and Egypt; the Indian 
Female Normal School and Instruction Society, 
organized in 1852, which has schools, and does 
zenana, Bible and medical work in India; and the 
British wSyrian Mission Schools and Bible Work 
among the neglected women and children in Syria. 

Denominational women's societies in the United 
States exist in most of the Churches. The Congre- 
gational Churches have four such societies, repre- 
senting various sections of the country. Two of 
them were organized in 1868, one in Boston the 
other in Chicago; there is also a Board on the 
Pacific Coast and one in the Sandwich Islands. 
The sphere of the latter is in the Hawaiian group 
and in Micronesia. The first three cooperate with 
the American Board in India, China, Japan, Africa, 



Protestant Churches 

Turkey, Mexico, and Spain. These societies main- 
tain boarding and day schools, employ Bible wom- 
en, hold evangelistic meetings, and do medical work. 

The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church was formed in 1869 in 
Boston. Its fields are, in the order of occupation, 
India, China, Mexico and South America, Japan 
and Africa, Italy, Bulgaria, and Korea. It con- 
ducts schools, boarding and day, does direct evan- 
gelistic work in house to house visitation, in tours 
and in meetings of various kinds, and has an im- 
portant medical department. Its medical mission- 
aries gain access to houses and influence in circles 
which would be closed to ordinary missionary work. 
Dr. Leonora Howard, sent to Peking in 1877, was 
summoned the next year to Tientsin, to attend the 
wife of the great Chinese statesman, Li Hung 
Chang. Under her treatment Lady Li recovered. 
The result was a pressing invitation to remain in 
Tientsin, the placing of a temple at her disposal for 
dispensary work the cost of which was met by Lady 
Li, and finally a hospital built by the Society. 

There are several Boards in the Presbyterian 
Church, three of which were organized in 1870. 
They have missions among the Indians, in Mexico, 
Guatemala, South America, West Africa, Syria, 
Persia, India, Siam, Laos, China, Japan and Korea. 
Their appropriations and appointments are al- 
ways submitted to the regular Foreign Board at 
New York. 

211 



Foreign Missions of the 

Among other women's foreign societies are those 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, organ- 
ized in 1878; of the Reformed (Dutch) Church, 
organized in 1875; of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church, organized in 1880; of the United Presby- 
terian Church, organized in 1883; of the Northern 
Baptists, organized in 1871 (four sectional soci- 
eties) ; of the Southern Baptist Convention, organ- 
ized in 1884; of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
organized in 1871 ; of the Lutheran General Synod, 
organized in 1879. There are also similar bodies 
in Canada, in connection with the various Churches. 

In England there is the Ladies' Auxiliary of the 
Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, organized 
in 1858; the Ladies' Association for the Promotion 
of Female Education Among the Heathen, organ- 
ized in 1865 as auxiliary to the Society for the Prop- 
agation of the Gospel, Church of England; Ladies' 
Association, auxiliary to the Baptist Missionary 
Society; Ladies' Committee of the London Mis- 
sionary Society, organized in 1875; Woman's Mis- 
sionary Association, Presbyterian, organized in 
1878; Zenana Missionary Society, auxiliary to the 
Church Missionary Society, Church of England. 

In Scotland there are three women's societies in 

connection with the Church of Scotland : one for 

general missionary and zenana work, organized in 

1837, and two for educational and other work 

among the Jews ; three in connection with the Free 

Church : one for female education in India and 

212 



Protestant Churches 

South Africa, organized in 1837, another for work 
among the Jews, and a third for work on the Conti- 
nent; a Zenana Mission and a Kaffrarian Society 
in connection with the United Presbyterian Church ; 
and a Society in connection with the Episcopal 
Church of Scotland. 

In Ireland there is an association for work among 
the women of the East, organized in 1873. 

Two women's societies are reported from Ger- 
many : the Berlin Women's Missionary Association, 
more than sixty years old, which has work in India 
and in Jerusalem, and the Berlin Women's Mission 
for China. There are other women's societies on 
the Continent, notably one in Stockholm, Sweden. 

These societies operate in China and in Africa. 

213 



Foreign Missions of the 



CHAPTER XI 

The Mission Fields of the World 

The peoples of the earth among whom Protes- 
tant missionaries are laboring may be divided into 
five classes, as follows : I. Papal, Oriental Christian 
and Protestant; II. Mohammedan; III. Jewish; 
IV. Asiatic Heathen ; V. Uncivilized. 

I. PAPAL, ORIENTAL CHRISTIAN AND PROTESTANT 
POPULATIONS 

i. Missions in Papal Countries. The Roman 
Catholic Church is not always and everywhere the 
same, notwithstanding its old Latin motto to that 
effect. It is very different in Protestant countries 
like England, the United States and Germany, 
from what it is in Italy, Spain and South American 
countries. It is not tolerant of other forms of 
religion where it enjoys control, and would exclude 
them all by force if it could. In Latin lands — Italy, 
Spain and Portugal in Europe and Spanish 
countries in America — the church has made little 
progress toward a higher and more spiritual Chris- 
tianity. The example of the priests is often a re- 
proach to religion and morals, and the people are 
superstitious and believe that observance of rites 

and ceremonies and oft-repeated prayers to the 

214 . 



Protestant Churches 

Virgin and the saints will atone for evil lives. Prot- 
estant missionaries have had to encounter the most 
strenuous opposition and every form of persecution 
which the state would allow. A deep-seated prej- 
udice must first be overcome before the people can 
be reached and influenced for good. 

In America, Canadian Churches are at work 
among the French Catholics of the Dominion; 
many societies of the United States, including our 
own, among the Romanists of Mexico, where there 
has been complete religious liberty under the 
government of President Diaz; Methodist, Presby- 
terian, Baptist, and other societies of the United 
States, including the American Bible Society, and 
the South American Missionary Society of Eng- 
land, the Moravians and others in the various 
countries of South America, except Bolivia, where 
no missionary work seems to have been attempted; 
Methodist, Presbyterian, and other societies in 
Cuba and Porto Rico, since the late Spanish war, 
the Baptists and Southern Methodists having made 
beginnings in Cuba before the war. In Mexico 
considerable success has attended missionary work. 
The Government confiscated and sold churches, 
monasteries and other ecclesiastical property, which 
the Catholic Church had accumulated, and Protes- 
tant congregations are occupying these buildings. 
A reform movement, led by natives, and organized 
into a separate Church under the auspices of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church, has a considerable 

215 



Foreign Missions of the 

following. In South America the missionaries 
have less freedom and work under greater diffi- 
culties. Progress, however, is beginning to be made. 
The history of the attempts made by the South 
American Society to reach the degraded peoples 
of Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia is tragic, and the 
blood of the martyrs was not shed in vain. 

All Italy has been open to Protestant mission- 
aries since the kingdom was reunited. The end 
of the temporal power of the Pope and the removal 
of the seat of the government of King Victor Eman- 
uel from Turin to Rome was hailed by the Protestant 
world as well as the political as a most significant 
event, and missionary societies prepared almost im- 
mediately to take advantage of it. Protestantism 
was already represented in Italy by the heroic little 
Church of the Waldensians. Missions were es- 
tablished in the papal city and in other centers by 
our own society, and by various other American 
and English societies, including the Wesleyan. 
The results have not been large. The field has 
proved a hard one. Prejudices are strong, and 
Protestant requirements seem rigorous to people so 
long accustomed to a form of religion imposing 
few moral restraints. 

Spain, like Italy, is stubborn ground for mis- 
sionary endeavor. The American Board and 
several English societies have interests there which 
are developing very slowly. 

France, though dominantly Roman Catholic, 
216 



Protestant Churches 

also recognizes and supports other religions, in- 
cluding the Reformed, representing the old Hugue- 
notic Protestants, and the Jews. The Reformed 
Church is pervaded with Rationalism. There is the 
Free Church, a small Protestant body, and missions 
conducted by the English Wesleyans, by a few 
small American societies and, most important of 
all, by what is known as the McAll mission, an 
undenominational movement supported by Prot- 
estants in the United States, England and Scot- 
land. 

Austria is almost wholly Roman Catholic, ex- 
cepting Hungary — where there is a large Reformed 
element, generally Rationalistic. The American 
Board has missions in the empire, and so have the 
Moravians. There is religious toleration but not 
religious liberty, and missionaries are restricted in 
their operations. 

2. Missions Among Oriental Christians. 

There are some half dozen or more ancient 

Churches in Eastern lands, usually called Oriental 

or Eastern Churches ; including the orthodox Greek 

Church — which is the State Church in Russia and 

in Greece — the Armenians, the Nestorians, the 

Jacobites, the Copts of Egypt, and the Abyssinian 

Christians. The Greek Church is due to the 

division over the doctrine of the procession of the 

Spirit; the Western or Latin Christians holding 

that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and 

the Son, and the Eastern or Greek Christians that 

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Foreign Missions of the 

he proceeds from the Father alone. The Armenian 
Church is the result of an earlier division on the 
question of one nature and one person of Christ. 
They agree with the Greeks as to the procession of 
the Spirit and on other points, and also with Roman 
Catholics in several particulars. The Nestorians 
deny that the human and divine in Christ combined 
to form one nature, hence they are anti-monophy- 
sites. The Jacobites are monophysite Christians 
found chiefly in Syria and parts of Turkey. The 
Coptic is a very ancient Church of Egypt and the 
Abyssinian is a corrupt combination of Christian 
and Jewish elements. 

The missions of the American Board in Turkey, 
of the Presbyterian Board in Syria and Persia and 
of our own Society in Bulgaria are chiefly to 
the Greeks, Armenians, Jacobites and Nestorians. 
Great success has attended these efforts of the 
American Board and the Presbyterian Board and 
thousands have accepted the gospel, and converted 
ministers of the old faiths have become pastors and 
active evangelists. Our mission in Northern 
Bulgaria has had great difficulties to meet and has 
but little progress to report. The Church of Eng- 
land, by means of what is known as the "Arch- 
bishops' Assyrian Mission" has sought to reform the 
Assyrian or Nestorian Christians within their own 
Church. These bodies of oriental Christians have 
suffered great persecutions by the Turks. The 

most recent, a few years ago, was so violent and 

218 



Protestant Churches 

bloody that the Christian world stood aghast, but 
for political reasons declined to interfere. Chris- 
tians, both of the old faiths and of the new intro- 
duced by missionaries, were given their choice of 
the acceptance of Islam or the sword, with unspeak- 
able degradation for the women of their households. 
In the presence of such a horrible menace they 
proved that they were made of the stuff of martyrs. 
They would not deny the Christ, and fell in awful 
slaughter, leaving their women to even a worse fate. 
Constantinople is a center of evangelical influence 
in connection with the educational and publication 
work of the American Board and Bible distribution 
by the American Bible Society. Among the Copts 
in Egypt the United Presbyterians of the United 
States have carried on a successful evangelical and 
educational work, assisted by several English so- 
cieties. Nothing has yet been done for the 
Abyssinians, who are not accessible in their own 
country. 

3. Missions in Protestant Countries. These 
are in Europe. Attention was drawn to the need 
of a more spiritual and earnest type of Christianity 
in Germany and Scandinavia by natives of those 
countries who visited the United States and got 
into a warmer religious atmosphere. Consequently, 
extensive missionary operations are carried on by 
our own Society in Germany, Switzerland, and the 
Scandinavian countries, and by the Baptists in the 

same lands, and also by the United Brethren in 

219 



Foreign Missions of the 

Christ and the Evangelical Association in Germany. 
We also have missions among the Finns of Russia 
and in St. Petersburg. The results are regarded as 
helpful in preparing men and women for an active 
Christian life and in awakening a more earnest 
spirit in the old Churches. 

II. MISSIONS TO MOHAMMEDAN POPULATIONS. 

Islam, or the religion of Mohammed, was a 
strong protest against the polytheistic systems that 
prevailed when the prophet arose. It declares 
that there is but one God, and Mohammed is his 
prophet. It inculcates temperance, but practices 
polygamy, begets an intense devotional spirit, but 
is unmindful of some of the virtues and makes its 
converts by the sword. It has followers to the num- 
ber perhaps of 175,000,000. These are found in 
the Turkish Empire, whose Sultan is the head of 
the faith; in Arabia and Persia; in Morocco, Al- 
geria, the Great Desert, the Soudan, and other 
African countries; in India, Afghanistan, Baluchis- 
tan, and countries of Central Asia, and the Malay 
Peninsula and archipelago. Little or no mis- 
sionary work has been done among the Moslems of 
Turkey by the American Board, as the Government 
would not allow it. Evangelical influences have in 
a few cases reached them, however, but they could 
not openly avow a change of religion without 
danger of being suddenly and secretly cut off. A 

number of converts known to the missionaries dis- 

220 



Protestant Churches 

appeared, some years ago, and never were seen or 
heard of again. Moslems have purchased the 
Scriptures and it is believed that the great work of 
the American Board has impressed them, and that, 
if they were free to renounce Islam, Christianity 
might make converts among them. The mission- 
aries working in Persia and Arabia are under the 
same limitations. In Egypt direct work is possible 
among the Moslems, and the United Presbyterian 
Board of the United States and the Church Mission- 
ary Society of England have in their schools many 
hundred Moslem boys and girls who are receiving 
a Christian training. One society is operating in 
Morocco. There are in India about 60.000,000 
Mohammedans. They are, of course, accessible to 
missionary influences. The universities, various 
Christian schools, medical missions, and the per- 
sonal character and work of the missionaries con- 
tinue to impress the Moslem that there is truth in 
Christianity. Great numbers however have not em- 
braced it. Among the effective ministers in our own 
Conferences in India are men won from Islam. How 
many there are among our lay members we have 
no way of determining. The greatest successes 
have been among the Mohammedans of Java and 
Sumatra. Islam is said to be making fewer con- 
verts from the heathen there than Christianity is 
from Islam. The missionaries seem to have found 
a direct way to the hearts of these people. 

The foundations have been laid for missionary 
221 



Foreign Missions of the 

work among the followers of the false prophet. 
The Arabic Bible will plead the cause of Christian- 
ity powerfully. Political influences of a disinte- 
grating character at work in Turkey and Persia 
may make Mohammedan fields, now among the 
hardest before the Christian missionary, easier and 
more fruitful in the near future. 

III. MISSIONS TO THE JEWS 

The Jew is everywhere. He is the truest of 
cosmopolites. He is at home in every country and 
among every people. Christianity does not have 
to go to him, he comes to it. There are supposed 
to be over 7,000,000 of the representatives of the 
race into which Christ was born, the bulk of whom 
are in European countries. Though singularly 
tenacious of their racial pecularities and of their 
religion, they are coming into the Christian 
Church constantly, here and there one. We have 
organized in the United States no special agencies 
to reach them, but our own Society, with others, 
has one or more missionaries working among 
them. In Great Britain there are a number of so- 
cieties established specially for the conversion of 
Jews, and their fields are in Europe, Asia and 
Africa. 

IV. MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN OF ASIA 

In Asia, the cradle of civilization and of Christian- 
ity, we find the greatest and densest heathen popu- 

222 



Protestant Churches 

lations in the world. China, India, Japan, Korea 
and Indo-China have 750,000,000 people, accord- 
ing to the latest estimates; more than one half of 
the population of the globe. Not all of these are 
heathen, but when we deduct the sixty or seventy 
millions of Mohammedans and the Christians, who 
do not rise into the millions, we still have a mass 
of 675,000,000 or 680,000,000 persons who "in 
their blindness, bow down to wood and stone." The 
figures are appalling, and so are the facts of social, 
moral and religious conditions. The religions 
represented are chiefly Confucianism, Hinduism, 
Buddhism, Taoism and Shintoism. But it will be 
most convenient to consider this vast subject by 
fields rather, than by religions, making these divi- 
sions : 1. India; 2. China; 3. Japan; 4. Korea; 
5. French Indo-China and Siam. 

1. Missions to the Heathen in India. We 
include under this term India, Ceylon and Burma, 
over which British rule extends, excepting Nepaul, 
and several native and foreign States. The people 
of India are divided as to race, on the basis of lan- 
guage, as follows: 1, Aryan stock, covering most of 
India, except the lower end of the peninsula, and 
including the Hindi, the Bengali, the Marathi, the 
Sindhi and the Punjabi tongues: 2, the Dravidian, 
covering the southern part of the peninsula, and in- 
cluding the Tamil, the Telugu, the Kanarese; 3, 
Kolarian, covering minute areas and embracing the 

hill tribes of Central India; 4, Burmo-Tibetan. 

223 



Foreign Missions of the 

covering Nepaul and Burma. Each of these groups 
of languages contains numerous dialects : the Dra- 
vidian, twelve principal variations; the Kolarian, 
nine : the Burmo-Tibetan, twenty ; and the Aryan a 
vast number, making in all some 300 dialects spoken 
in India. In religion, the people may be classified as 
Hindus, constituting four fifths of the population; 
Mohammedans, 60,000,000; Buddhists, about 3,- 
500,000: Sikhs and Jains 1,750,000, and Parsis 
75,000. Hinduism, with its trinity, its doctrine of 
transmigration, its Brahminic code of ceremonies 
and observances, and its intricate and devilish caste 
system, holds its followers in the most abject re- 
ligious and social bondage. As Dr. Duff said of it, 
"Unlike Christianity, which is all spirit and life, 
Hinduism is all letter and death." Buddhism is 
a more humane system than Hinduism, but is agnos- 
tic or atheistic, has no doctrine of definite personal 
immortality, and is a pessimistic system. Sikhism 
is a modification of Hinduism, Jainism is a mixture 
of Buddhism and Hinduism, and Parsiism is the 
religion of Zoroaster. 

The Danish missionaries, Ziegenbalg and Pliits- 
chau, were the first Protestants to carry Christianity 
to the caste-ridden heathen of India. They went 
to Tranquebar in South India in 1705 ; but little was 
done until English control became firm and strong 
and Parliament, in 18 14, allowed Christian evangel- 
ization to be undertaken. Almost all the great mis- 
sionary societies, American, British and Conti- 

224 



Protestant Churches 

nental, are represented in India. The first missions 
of the American Board and the American Baptist 
Missionary Union were begun in that great country, 
with which we include Burma. The Methodist 
Episcopal Church came much later into the field, 
its mission having been founded by Dr. Wm. 
Butler in 1856. We have now, as the result of 
that modest beginning, five Annual Conferences and 
one Mission Conference, and between 75,000 and 
80,000 communicants. For many years missions in 
India had little encouragement. Among the first 
to receive the gospel were those of the lower castes 
and outcasts; but the leaven has worked its way 
upward and even the intensely religious Brahmin 
has been affected by it. The relief given to sufferers 
by the great famines has powerfully impressed the 
heathen mind, and the most notable ingatherings 
of the Church Missionary and other societies fol- 
lowed one of these exhibitions of Christian love and 
care. Christianity is growing daily in influence and 
power and is slowly but surely undermining the old 
religious systems, which for so many centuries have 
stood as barriers to all social, religious and intellec- 
tual progress. 

2. Missions to the Heathen in China. China 
is the most populous country of the globe. It is 
credited wifh over 400,000,000 people, inhabiting an 
area considerably larger than the United States. 
It is a very ancient country, with a very long 

history. Events are traced back to 2205 B. C. 
(15) 225 



Foreign Missions of the 

Before that were legendary and mythological 

periods, the latter including the creation of the 

world, by Pwanku, with a mallet and chisel. The 

country has been variously known as Cathay to the 

Persians, Seres to the Latins, by other countries in 

Asia as Jin, Sin, etc., and by the Chinese themselves 

as Tien Ha, signifying the world. 

China was practically closed to foreigners until 

the close of the war with Great Britain, in 1842, 

when five ports were opened first to the English 

and then to other nations. By the treaty of Tientsin, 

at the close of the second war with Great Britain, 

toleration of Christianity, residence of foreign 

ministers at Peking and freedom to travel in the 

empire were secured, though the terms of the treaty 

had to be enforced by the allied powers in i860. 

The language, different from all other modern 

languages, has several dialects, the chief of which 

are the Mandarin, or Court language, the Cantonese, 

the Amoy and the Fuhchau dialects. There is also 

a book language, called the Wen-li. The three chief 

systems of religion are the Confucian, Taoist and 

Buddhist. These systems coexist without serious 

antagonisms. Individuals may, and do, accept all 

three without being deemed inconsistent. One may, 

however, be a Confucianist without accepting any 

features of the other two religions ; but Taoists and 

Buddhists are usually also Confucianists. The 

body of the people may, therefore, be fairly termed 

Confucianists distinctively. 

226 



Protestant Churches 

The worship of ancestors, the real religion of 
the Chinese, is part of the Confucian system; next 
to this reverence for departed parents is the respect 
paid to the influence of wind and water, Fung 
Shwui. Sacrifices are made to rain, wind, thunder, 
etc., and the religion of the people is characterized 
by superstition and fear. Things living and things 
dead, spirits, the winds, water, stars, eclipses, un- 
lucky days, etc., enter into the thoughts of the 
people and control their actions. There is no caste, 
but class distinctions are recognized, the greatest 
honor being paid to the scholar; the farmer comes 
second, the artisan third and the trader fourth. 
St. Thomas, according to tradition, first preached 
the gospel to the Chinese. The Nestorians are 
known to have been in the empire as early as 505 
A. D. The Catholics began missionary work in 
1292, were subsequently expelled and began again 
in 1586. They made many converts and gained 
much influence, but were banished in 161 8. Some 
traces of Catholicism remained when missions 
were renewed after the treaties which proclaimed 
toleration. 

Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary 
to China, was sent out in 1806 by the London Mis- 
sionary Society, reaching Canton in 1807. Shortly 
after he had to retire to Macao, belonging to 
Portugal, and there prepared for missionary work. 
Two other missionaries were sent out by the 

London Society, one in 18 13, the third in 1822. 

227 



Foreign Missions of the 

The American Board was the second society to 
enter the field, sending the Rev. E. C. Bridgman 
to Canton in 1829. The Methodist was the tenth 
society to seek the establishment of a mission in 
the great empire. It was one of six societies which 
did this in the year 1847. 

The mission centers multiplied, new provinces 
were gradually opened, and nearly all parts of the 
vast territory are now occupied. Naturally, slow 
progress was made for a quarter of a century or 
more in gaining converts. The great dislike for 
foreigners, the prevalent superstitions, the bitter 
antagonism of the literary class, the opium habit, 
and other difficulties, have barred the way of Chris- 
tainity,but it is gradually overcoming these obstacles. 
In 1877 there were 13,515 communicants connected 
with Protestant societies; thirteen years later this 
number had been nearly trebled : 37,287. Chris- 
tianity is surely gathering momentum, and its out- 
look for the twentieth century is very promising. 

3. Missions to the Heathen in Japan. Japan 
is the foreign name for Dai Nippon (great day- 
spring). It has a population of over 41,000,000. 
They are a bright, enterprising people, and are 
sometimes called the French of Asia. They are 
quick to accept Western civilization, and seem to 
have none of the sluggishness of the Chinese. In 
religion, they are generally Buddhists. Shintoism 
is the state religion. It was doubtless founded on 

ancestor-worship. The great Roman Catholic, 

228 



Protestant Churches 

Francis Xavier, introduced Christianity into Japan in 
1 549, and it obtained a considerable foothold ; but it 
was severely persecuted and declined in influence. 
When Japan was opened by treaty in 1859, three 
hundred and ten years after Xavier began his mis- 
sion, Roman Catholics, Russian Orthodox and 
Protestant missionaries went into the empire to- 
gether. Of the Protestant missionaries, the first to 
arrive were representatives of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church; next, of the American Presby- 
terian, and, third, of the Reformed (Dutch) Church 
in America. There was really little opportunity for 
missionary work until after the revolution of 1868. 
The language was a difficulty, the people were sunk 
low in morals, and the government watchful and 
suspicious. But by degrees the missionaries 
secured the attention and confidence of the people, 
and their work has been attended with great success. 
The Presbyterian and Reformed Missions united in 
organizing, in 1877, "the Church of Christ in 
Japan," which is a large and very influential body. 
Japan is apparently an attractive field, as a great 
number of societies are represented in it. The 
results have been very encouraging. The Japanese 
Christian is quite independent in spirit, and has 
accepted very readily the idea of self-support. The 
native ministers are an able, earnest body of men, 
quite ready to take the responsibility of preaching, 
evangelizing and organizing, when the time shall 

come for the withdrawal of. the missionaries. As 

229 



Foreign Missions of the 

indicating the readiness with which the Japanese 
accept Western ideas, it may be added that the 
government has carried the secular idea of education 
so far as to refuse recognition to graduates of 
schools in which religion is taught. 

4. Missions to the Heathen in Korea. The 
Hermit Kingdom, so called because it so persistently 
kept its doors closed to the commercial world, 
entered into treaty relations with the United States 
in 1882, and later with other nations. It has a 
population of about 10,500,000 of the Mongolian 
type. The Korean language is widely different 
both from the Chinese and Japanese, though the 
character of the former is used in writing. It has 
an alphabet which is said to compare favorably in 
many points with the best known in other countries. 
Formerly the Buddhist was the religion of the 
people, but for some centuries Confucianism has 
been decidedly in the ascendant. Catholicism was 
introduced near the end of the eighteenth century 
by Koreans who had become acquainted with it in 
Peking. It was received with favor, but was sub- 
sequently greatly persecuted, several thousand native 
members perishing at one time. When Korea was 
opened by the treaties of 1882 there were, it is es- 
timated, not fewer than 50,000 Roman Catholics in 
the kingdom. The first Protestant missionary to 
enter upon work in Korea was Dr. N. H. Allen, of 
China. He arrived in the fall of 1884. Dr. R. 

S. Maclay^ of the Methodist mission in Japan, had 

230 



Protestant Churches 

visited the country previously, and as soon as his 
report could be acted upon Dr. Wm. B. Scranton 
and the Rev. H. G. Appenzeller were appointed as 
missionaries. They reached the field in 1885. 
Other societies have established missions, and the 
outlook is promising. 

5. Missions to the Heathen in French Indo-« 
China and Siam. The Kingdom of Siam forms 
a part of the Indo-China peninsula. It has a 
population of nearly 6,000,000, the majority of 
which consists of Siamese and Shans. Their 
language is monosyllabic and is distinguished by 
tones, like the Chinese. Buddhism is the prevailing 
religion and it has a very strong hold upon the 
people. A form of Shamanism, or demon worship, 
also coexists with Buddhism. Dr. Karl Gutzlaff, 
of the Netherlands, and Mr. Tomlin of the London 
Missionary Society, visited Bangkok in 1828, and set 
to work there, appealing to America for missionaries 
to occupy the field. The American Board sent Dr. 
Abeel in 1831, but none of these missionaries re- 
mained very long. Successors to Dr. Abeel were 
sent out in 1834. The American Baptist Missionary 
Union also entered the field from Burma, and the 
Presbyterian Board founded a mission at Bangkok 
in 1848. These missions were to the Siamese. In 
1867 work was begun among the Laos tribes, in the 
northern part of the kingdom. For a time perse- 
cution was visited upon the missionaries and con- 
verts, but since the death of the persecuting king at 

231 



Foreign Missions of the 

Chieng-Mai, and the accession of a new king at 
Bangkok, toleration has been the rule. The 
present king of Siam is an enlightened and liberal 
monarch, and the missions have enjoyed the royal 
favor. The Presbyterian Board, at the Presbyterian 
reunion in 1870 in this country and the withdrawal 
of Presbyterian contributions to the American 
Board, received the missions of the latter organi- 
zation in Siam. The country is now open to 
evangelistic effort, and the missionaries believe that 
bright and promising days are before them. 

French Indo-China embraces Cambodia, Cochin- 
China, Anam and Tonkin, all under French rule. 
There are no missions in this section of the penin- 
sula except those conducted by the Roman Catholic 
Church. 

V. MISSIONS TO UNCIVILIZED HEATHEN 

The countries embraced in this division are those 
of Africa South of the Great Desert, the Indian 
tribes of North and South America, and the island 
groups of the Pacific, the South Seas and elsewhere. 
The work among the Indians of the United States 
and Alaska is properly home mission work and need 
not be considered here. What is done in the Do- 
minion of Canada and British America is done 
chiefly by the Canadian Churches, and by the 
Church of England Societies. Greenland is mis- 
sionary ground of the Moravian and Danish Mis- 
sionary Societies. The savages of Patagonia are 

232 



Protestant Churches 

being reached in some measure by the South Ameri- 
can Missionary Society, of England. These people 
were so low in the scale of human intelligence that 
when Darwin, the celebrated naturalist, first came 
into contact with them, he doubted whether they 
were capable of being taught. They seemed to be 
all animal. But the patient labors of the mission- 
aries brought results which convinced the scientist 
that even the Fuegians or Patagonians are capable 
of development, intellectually, morally and reli- 
giously. 

i. Missions in Africa. Africa, so far as the 
interior was concerned, was almost a sealed book 
until the explorations of Rebmann, Speke and Bur- 
ton were continued and completed by Livingstone 
and Stanley and others. The countries on the 
coast line, from the Gulf of Aden on the east 
around the Cape of Good Hope to Senegal on the 
west, have long been known, and the world has 
had important commercial relations with them. 
Formerly these commercial relations often involved 
the exchange of goods for slaves. The United 
States, the West India Islands and other countries 
had Negro slaves in this way; but the conscience 
of Christian nations was aroused on this subject, 
and the iniquitous traffic was gradually abolished, 
and slavery is now everywhere at an end except 
among Mohammedans and savages. The African 
race is known in all parts of the civilized world, and 
enlightened peoples, like those of our own country, 

233 



Foreign Missions of the 

have had an excellent opportunity to study its capaci- 
ties and characteristics. Superstitious, cruel, de- 
graded savages, often cannibals, in their natural 
state, in their own continent, Negroes have come to 
the front rank in all that constitutes noble manhood, 
where the right conditions were afforded them. It 
is said that such was the contempt in which the 
early Dutch settlers of South Africa held the Hot- 
tentots, that the legend, "Dogs and Hottentots not 
admitted," was sometimes placed over their church 
doors. Yet Hottentots and Bushmen, at the bottom 
of the intellectual scale, have under missionary 
teaching and influence made good Christians and 
good Christian preachers and pastors. Cape Colony, 
the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, the 
former under English rule, the latter independent or 
semi-independent states, are European in popula- 
tion largely. Liberia is a republic, founded under 
American auspices and colonized by American 
Negroes. European interests are more extensive 
on the West Coast than on the East, and Protestant 
missions were early established in the countries 
bordering on the Gulf of Guinea. The climate was 
so fatal to foreigners that this portion of the conti- 
nent has been called the "white man's grave." Mis- 
sionary after missionary has fallen, and yet, in the 
spirit of the hero Cox, though perhaps a thousand 
have fallen Africa has not been given up. The 
climate has been one difficulty, the slave traffic 
another, the rum traffic still another and the savage 

234 



Protestant Churches 

superstitions a fourth. These have not been en- 
countered in equal degree in all parts of Africa, for 
the interior is salubrious and parts of South Africa 
are reasonably healthy. In the last quarter of 
the nineteenth century missionary enterprise in 
Africa has developed wonderfully. Societies have 
pushed into the interior, along the great Congo 
River and its tributaries, and are reaching tribes 
unknown before Stanley's great discoveries; they 
have at great cost planted missions on the shores of 
the Victoria Nyanza, Lake Tanganyika and else- 
where in the very heart of the continent. To 
Stanley's appeal for missionaries for King Mtesa's 
people in Uganda, at the north end of Lake Victoria, 
the Church Missionary Society promptly responded, 
and its expedition marched over 800 miles, along a 
scarcely known caravan route, and reached its des- 
tination. Amid encouragements and discourage- 
ments, revolutions, massacres and oppression, the 
missionaries have labored these years, and the results 
already justify the immense outlay of treasure and 
labor and life. The kingdom is becoming a Chris- 
tian kingdom, and the Spirit of God is taking the 
place, in the hearts of the people, of the Lubari, 
dreadful spirits of the lake. The London Society is 
similarly established on the shores of Lake Tangan- 
yika and Scotch societies on those of Lake Nyassa. 
Every year the slave raids are being reduced, and 
the cruel Arab slave stealers are so hemmed in with 
Christian mission stations that their inhuman busi- 

235 



Foreign Missions of the 

ness is well-nigh destroyed. It is not possible to 
pass in review all the countries where missionary 
effort is seeking to evangelize and enlighten the 
people. The Protestant world has numerous repre- 
sentatives on the East and West Coasts, in the South 
and in the interior, preaching, teaching, healing 
and fitting the people for peaceful industrial pur- 
suits. Loveclale Institution, in South Africa, is a 
center of light and influence, preparing men for the 
ministry, for teaching and for various industrial 
and mechanical vocations. 

The partition of Africa among the European 
nations assures the early suppression of what re- 
mains of the terrible slave traffic, the gradual in- 
crease of peace conditions, the building of roads and 
telegraphs, and the commercial development of 
their various spheres of influence. England, Ger- 
many, and France are busy with railroad enterprises 
which will connect the interior with the Coast, and 
telegraph lines which will make it possible to flash 
messages from old Ujiji and the capital of Uganda 
to any part of the civilized world. 

2. Missions in Madagascar. Madagascar, 
a considerable island off the East Coast of 
Africa, deserves a separate paragraph. Its chief 
tribe, educated and developed by Christian mission- 
ary enterprise, had become a Christian people with 
a Christian government and Christian institutions. 
They were evangelizing the heathen tribes and con- 
stantly extending the area of Christian civilization, 

236 



Protestant Churches 

when France began a war of conquest a few years 
ago, and subjugated the island. French policy 
represses Protestant endeavor and encourages 
Catholic enterprise. It is feared that the result will 
be disastrous to the work of the London Missionary 
Society and that of the English Society of Friends, 
to which belongs the honor of having won these 
people from heathenism and savage superstitions. 

3. Missions in the South Seas. The islands 
of the South Seas have been scenes of thrilling 
interest in missionary history. Included in this 
somewhat indefinite term are the Ladrones, the 
Caroline, Marshall and Gilbert groups, belonging 
to Micronesia, and New Guinea, and the Solomon, 
New Hebrides, Ellice and Fiji groups, in Melanesia. 

In the Micronesian groups the people are of the 
brown Polynesian race. When first discovered they 
were a fierce people. They would rob ships and kill 
the crew, and in some cases cannibal feasts were 
held. Their religion was a kind of spiritism. 
They were, of course, degraded and immoral, 
though they acquired vices from civilized visitors 
Missionaries of the American Board began work in 
the Carolines in 1852, assisted by Hawaiians. The 
first five years were years of discouragement; the 
second five years were years of excellent results. 
The work was extended in the Caroline and to the 
Gilbert and Marshall groups, and later to the Mort- 
locks. Converts from Ponape inaugurated the mis- 
sion in the Mortlocks. Of the 85,000 population in 

237 



Foreign Missions of the 

Micronesia, upward of 50,000 have heard the 
gospel, and great social and other changes have been 
wrought by Christian ideas. 

In Melanesia, the Fijian and New Hebridean 
groups deserve most particular notice. The Fijians, 
a cross between the Malay and Papuan or Negro 
types, held preeminence for cruelty, wickedness and 
savagery. They were fierce warriors who killed 
and ate their enemies, made away with aged rela- 
tives, destroyed widows, and sacrificed slaves. They 
were a terror to shipwrecked crews. Their chief 
deity was a large serpent, and the spirits of heroes 
and chiefs were worshiped. The Wesleyan Mis- 
sionary Society of England began missionary work 
among them in 1835, as the result of a revival in 
the Friendly Islands, some of the Friendly Island 
converts being with the missionary party. It was 
a hard field, and history says that "perhaps there 
never was another such struggle between light and 
darkness, truth and error, as that which took place 
in the course of the Fiji mission," but the mission- 
aries would not give up, and the kingdom of Satan 
had to. A moral, social and religious revolution 
was the result, and Fijians were among the mission- 
aries who carried the gospel later on to New 
Guinea and were martyred there. In the New Heb- 
rides, where Scotch and Canadian Presbyterians 
have exemplified the faithfulness and courage of 
the apostles of the first century, similar results have 

come to bless missionary labors and certify to the 

238 



Protestant Churches 

power of God to change the human heart. New 
Guinea is one of the later scenes of gospel triumph. 
This island in size is second only to Australia. The 
natives are a fierce, superstitious Negro race. The 
London and Wesleyan Societies have been at work 
in the English territory, and continental societies in 
the German and Dutch portions. 

4. Missions in Other Islands. Other Poly- 
nesian groups are the Friendly, the Marquesas, the 
Cooks, the Society and other well-known series. 
The Friendly or Tonga Islands, like Fiji, have been 
won from a state of heathen cannibalism by Wesley- 
an missionaries; the Marquesas have been evangel- 
ized by Hawaiians; Cook's, or Hervey and Society, 
by the London Missionary Society. The Church of 
England and Wesleyan Societies have done a great 
work among the natives of New Zealand, and the 
Moravians among the black aborigines of Australia. 

The Indian archipelago is largely a Mohammedan 
field and has been referred to under that division; 
the Philippines, recently ceded to the United States 
by Spain, contain a large mixed population, among 
which the Roman Catholic Church has been long 
at work. These islands are now missionary ground 
for American societies and Protestant missionaries 

are already on the ground. 

239 



Foreign Missions of the 



CHAPTER XII 

Progress at Home and Abroad 

While it is to be lamented that the Church is still 
so inadequately measuring up to the demands and 
the opportunities of foreign missionary work, it is, 
on the other hand, most encouraging to compare the 
conditions as we approach the close of the century 
with those at its beginning. 

The great missionary societies of England started 
into being during the closing years of the eighteenth 
century; and it was not until the end of the first 
decade of the present century that the first foreign 
missionary society was organized in America ; name- 
ly, the American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions, which dates from 1810. The 
Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church followed in 18 19, but sent no missionary to 
a foreign field until nearly one third of the century 
had gone. 

In 1899 the number of missionary societies was 

170; including auxiliary societies, about 500; 

and their income was $15,361,000. There were 

5,217 stations where missionaries resided, and about 

14,000 out-stations. The number of organized 

churches was nearly 9,000. There were over 5,000 

ordained native preachers. The number of Sunday- 

240 



Protestant Churches 

schools had grown to about 8,000, with 1,100,000 
scholars. The number of communicants in the mis- 
sion churches is 1,585,000. Dr. James S. Dennis 
has kindly given the following statistics in regard 
to the educational work of foreign missions at the 
close of 1899 : 

There are 93 universities and colleges, in which 
there are 33,139 male pupils, and 2,275 female stu- 
dents, making a total of 35,414. There are 358 
theological and training schools, in which there are 
8,347 male and 3,558 female students; total, 11,905. 
There are 857 boarding and high schools, having 48,- 
851 male and 34,297 female students; total, 83,148. 
Of industrial training institutions and classes there 
are 134, with 4,622 male and 1,687 female students; 
total, 6,309. Of medical and nurses' schools and 
classes there are 63, with 370 male and 219 female 
students; total, 589. There are 128 kindergartens, 
with 4,359 pupils. Of village day-schools there are 
18,742, with 616,722 boys and 287,720 girls under 
instruction; total 904,442. 

The complete summary of educational institutions 
and schools of all kinds shows 20,375, m which 
there are 714,957 male and 331,209 female students; 
total, 1,046,166. 

The Christian Endeavor Society, the Ep worth 
League and other young people's societies are doing 
very effective work for missions, and are well repre- 
sented in the foreign fields. The Epworth League 

of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, con- 
(16) 241 



Foreign Missions of the 

tributed $20,000 to Foreign Missions last year, and 
there are 45 chapters in the foreign field. The 
Methodist Episcopal Church has over 80 chapters in 
China alone. 

The first Bible Society was not organized until 
1804. This was the British and Foreign Bible 
Society. The American Bible Society was formed 
in 1 8 16. Now there are 80 Bible Societies, and 
they have produced more than 90 entire versions and 
250 partial versions, and have circulated, in all, 
about 360,000,000 copies of the Scriptures. 

It was not until 1861 that the first Woman's For- 
eign Missionary Society was organized in the 
United States. Now there are 38 in the United 
States, 9 in Canada, over 30 in Great Britain and the 
continent of Europe, and a few others in other parts 
of the world; probably about 80 in all. 

Along with this progress there has come naturally 
a great increase of intelligence. There is much 
more knowledge of the condition of the great races 
and the smaller divisions of mankind than formerly. 
Not only do the missionary periodicals regularly 
bring to the churches the latest information from all 
the fields, but the church papers vie with each other 
in presenting information in regard to the progress 
and results of missionary labor, and even the secu- 
lar papers are conveying to their readers many im- 
portant facts bearing on missionary work. 

With increased intelligence there is of course 

increased interest. In many of the churches mis- 

242 



Protestant Churches 

sionary zeal is fostered by special meetings at which 
the different fields are represented, and earnest 
prayer offered growing out of special needs which 
have been brought to light. 

This increased intelligence and interest are not 
only manifested in the largely increased offerings, 
amounting in the Methodist Episcopal and Presby- 
terian Churches to over a million of dollars annu- 
ally — including in both cases the amounts con- 
tributed by the women's societies — but also in the 
increasing number of devoted young men and 
women consecrating themselves to foreign mission- 
ary work. In this line the Student Volunteer move- 
ment is one of the marked signs of the times. When 
more than 8,000 young men and women in our 
seminaries and colleges, including many of the best 
and brightest students, voluntarily declare to the 
churches that they are ready to go wherever God 
may call them in the world-wide field, it certainly 
indicates a cheering interest in the work on the part 
of the future leaders of thought in the church. 

The recent tour of Mr. John R. Mott in the interest 
of a federation of Christian students is remarkable, 
both in showing how heartily the great missionary 
idea is embraced by students all around the world 
and also in showing the great progress of Christian 
missions as evidenced by the fact that in Egypt, in 
India, in China and Japan, he found hundreds of 
earnest Christian students ready to join in a world- 
wide movement of evangelism. 

243 



Foreign Missions of the 

The progress of the work is further emphasized 
by such contrasts as the following : 

Consider Morrison starting out for China in 
1807. He is unable to get passage in an English 
vessel because the East India Company has control 
of them all and does not wish to encourage the send- 
ing of missionaries to China ; so that he actually has 
to come to New York in order to get to his chosen 
field. Remember that for thirty-five years after 
that the country was practically closed against mis- 
sionary labor, and that it was only in 1842 that the 
treaty ports were opened, and an opportunity given 
for the entrance of Protestant missions. Bear in 
mind that for many years after that the entire atti- 
tude of the government was unfriendly, and that in 
many places it was impossible to obtain a foothold. 
Remember that the Methodist Episcopal Mission, 
which entered in 1847, na d to wait ten years for its 
first convert, and that other missions had a similar 
experience. 

Over against these facts place the following : The 
entire empire open to the preaching of Christianity, 
and protection promised to Christians by imperial 
proclamation; the mission which waited ten years 
for its first convert now having over 25,000 com- 
municants ; Protestant Christianity with over 80,000 
communicants; the Empress Dowager gratefully 
accepting the elegant copy of the New Testament 
presented to her on her sixtieth birthday by the 

Christian women of China; Li Hung Chang, the 

244 



Protestant Churches 

great Viceroy, visiting foreign countries, and pub- 
licly testifying, in New York and elsewhere, his high 
appreciation of the work of foreign missionaries in 
his country. In Manchuria, where there was not a 
single Christian 25 years ago, there were, in 1888, 
1,450. In ten years from that date the number had 
increased ten-fold, and at the end of 1898 was 15,- 
490; there were 8,875 candidates waiting for bap- 
tism, and the contributions of the members amounted 
to $6,725. 

These are simply a few indications of the great 
progress which has been made, and of the hopeful 
outlook for the future. 

In regard to India, bear in mind the violent oppo- 
sition of the East India Company to the entrance of 
Carey and other missionaries; the long history of 
struggles and difficulties ; the attempt to exterminate 
Christianity by the Sepoy Rebellion in 1857. Then 
call to mind that the East India Company lowered 
its flag to half-mast out of respect to Carey when he 
died, after forty years of faithful labor; that since 
the Sepoy Rebellion the Methodist Episcopal Mis- 
sion in North and Northwest India alone has re- 
ceived over 72,000 communicants and that through- 
out Hindostan there is a widespread spirit of in- 
quiry, and a feeling even among many Hindoos and 
Mohammedans that Christianity is to be the future 
religion of the country. 

Remember that it was only in 1859 that Japan 

was opened to the intercourse of foreign nations, 

245 



Foreign Missions of the 

and that no open preaching- of Christianity was 
allowed for many years after that date; and now 
there are 40,000 communicants, with about 300 or- 
dained Japanese ministers. Remember that when 
the first Parliament of Japan assembled there were 
13 Christians in the lower house and that one of 
them was chosen Speaker ; and that the Chief Justice 
of the Supreme Court has been President of the 
Young Men's Christian Association in Tokyo. 

Remember that the first Protestant missionaries 
entered Korea in 1884 and that now seven mis- 
sionary societies are at work there, with over seventy 
missionaries; that the king sent for Bishop Ninde 
when he was about to leave the country, in 1895, 
and in a personal interview asked that many more 
Christian teachers might be sent to his country ; that 
the present Minister of Education is a graduate of 
Vanderbilt University, and an earnest Christian, 
and that Mr. Phil Jaishon, the accomplished editor 
of the leading newspaper of the country, is a Chris- 
tian, and an ardent friend of missions and mission- 
aries. 

Remember the triumphs of the gospel among 

various tribes in Africa; the Fiji Islands — barbarous 

and cannibal at the beginning of the century — so 

thoroughly Christianized that it would be difficult 

to find anywhere in the world a community where 

so large a proportion of the population is to be found 

at church on every Sabbath day; the Hawaiian 

Islands, with their large Christian population and 

246 



Protestant Churches 

their self-supporting churches, sending out mission- 
aries to other islands. 

In short, the progress of the work is such as to 
give the greatest encouragement to all Christian 
hearts, and to call for our profoundest gratitude. 
It is also a summons to deeper consecration and to 
more earnest effort to speedily take the gospel to 

all mankind. 

247 



Foreign Missions of the 



CHAPTER XIII 

The Outlook 

When Adoniram Judson was asked, "What is 
the prospect of the conversion of Burmah?" his 
answer was, "It is as bright as the promises of God." 
That answer could always be made, and was always 
full of comfort and hope. But foreign missions 
have long since passed the stage of experiment, the 
years of faithful seed-sowing and waiting in faith 
for the harvest. Already the toilers who have gone 
forth with the precious seed, and have sown it amid 
many difficulties, "come again with rejoicing, 
bringing their sheaves with them." 

The whole world is practically open to the gospel. 

The millions of India are under the government of 

Christian England. The first missionaries there 

were accustomed to see two funeral pyres built 

when a man died, one for his dead body and the 

other for the living body of his widow. She was 

bound and laid upon the wood, to which fire was 

applied, that she might go with him in the flames 

to the other world to minister to him there as she 

had done here. But the suttee has long since been 

abolished. Had any one said to Dr. William Butler, 

when he returned to Bareilly after the ravages of 

the Sepoy Rebellion to find that the only native 

248 



Protestant Churches 

Christian had been put to death, that in forty years 
there would be in that North India field 72,000 com- 
municants and 30,000 adherents, making a Chris- 
tian army of over 100,000 people, he would have 
deemed it a wild prophecy. Yet such is the fact 
to-day, and he lived to see converts coming in at the 
rate of fifty for every day in the year. 

Caste has been a tremendous obstacle to the 
progress of Christianity in India, but since the 
schools of Protestant Missions have begun to send 
up their graduates to the university examinations 
in Calcutta, and low caste boys and girls have taken 
the highest prizes over Brahmans in competition 
with them, caste has lost very much of its im- 
portance and is gradually giving way. 

In China the haughty exclusion of everything 
foreign with which the century began first gave 
place to the opening of treaty ports, and the 
privilege of travel within thirty miles of them. 
From this condition of things to the recent procla- 
mation of the Emperor that Christianity is good, 
teaching men to do to others as they would others 
should do to them, and declaring toleration for it 
and protection for its professors throughout the 
whole Empire, is a long step in the way of progress. 
When Protestant Missions began their work in 
China the idea of that nation's sending a minister 
to a foreign country would not have been suggested 
as even a remote possibility. Had any one dared 

to prophesy that before the close of the century she 

249 



Foreign Missions of the 

would send a Christian as her ambassador to the 
United States he would have been deemed beside 
himself. Yet this has actually taken place. Since 
the war with Japan there has been an awakening to 
the need of Western arts and sciences, a demand is 
made for the study of the English language, and the 
venerable curriculum of studies for the literary 
examinations is actually being changed so as to 
include some of the useful practical knowledge of 
the times in which we live. The telegraph is already 
in operation over a large part of the empire and 
extensive railway lines are soon to be built. Con- 
verts are coming into the Church in large numbers, 
and in some regions whole villages are asking for 
Christian teachers. 

Africa, except a few points along the coast, was 
practically an unknown continent at the opening of 
the century. Now about ten millions of square 
miles, or four fifths of her territory, are under the 
control of European nations. Mission stations are 
being rapidly established along her great rivers and 
on her interior highlands. The "dark continent" is 
open to the enlightening influences of Christianity. 

Japan offers a most inviting field to the efforts of 
Christendom, and Korea, so long the "Hermit 
Nation," now seeks the aid of Christian nations to 
bring to her all the blessings of the most advanced 
civilization. 

In Roman Catholic countries, such as Italy, South 

America and Mexico, thousands of converts have 

250 



Protestant Churches 

been gathered within a few years past, and the 
preaching of an earnest gospel yields results in con- 
gregations of people having a conscious experience 
of salvation through Christ, and ready to endure 
persecution or to face death itself for their faith. 

As has been shown in a previous chapter, to meet 
the demand created by the opening of the whole 
world to missionary effort there is no lack of candi- 
dates for missionary service. Never before has 
there been such widespread interest in missionary 
work in the colleges and seminaries of the land. 
Never before have so many of the students openly 
declared themselves as rea'dy and desirous to enter 
upon work in the foreign field. 

While the providential demand is so strong, and 
the supply of candidates at the same time so large, 
the money of the world is largely in the hands of 
Christian people. The wealth of Christian nations 
is constantly increasing ; and a very large share of it 
is in the hands of members of Christian churches. 
A Secretary of the Domestic and Foreign Mis- 
sionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
said not long ago that on a certain Sunday he had 
preached to a church in which there were seven 
members any one of whom could pay the entire 
running expenses of that society out of his income 
and not materially miss the money thus used. 

If the wealth of Christian people were only conse- 
crated to God's service in any degree proportionate 
to the ability of the membership the providential 

251 



Foreign Missions of the 

demands of the open field and the supply of earnest 
laborers at hand would be met by contributions 
equal to every need. There ought to be a united 
effort, on the part of Christian ministers and the 
godly laymen of the churches, to bring the tithes 
into God's storehouse, so that the great work of 
evangelization may be pressed to speedy success. 

Then, with cordial fellowship and cooperation 
among the different denominations, the work can 
be systematically pushed forward to its accomplish- 
ment. The growing spirit of unity and mutual 
helpfulness is a presage of highest encouragement 
for the future. A more serious purpose to obey the 
Redeemer's command, and to do it as speedily as 
possible, is manifesting itself in many portions of 
the Church. 

The work is before us as one that can be done. It 
is no longer a matter of theory, or one that appeals 
simply to faith. It is shown to be feasible from a 
cool, business point of view. The means for its 
accomplishment are visible, and are at hand. It is 
time to lay aside all excuses, to arouse the Church 
from a guilty indifference, to sound from every pul- 
pit God's call to the immediate performance of duty, 
to send out the best and brightest of our consecrated 
young men and women, and to follow them with 
sincere, earnest and unremitting prayer. 

In these days, when the faith of our godly fathers 
and mothers has been surpassed by the actual suc- 
cesses of the work before our eyes, when we stand 

252 



Protestant Churches 

in the midst of accomplishments far beyond what we 
had dared to hope for, when God has shamed the 
littleness of our faith by the great blessings poured 
out upon the mission fields of the Church, there 
should be no whisper of doubt, no hesitation in 
instant obedience, but a glad surrender of self and 
of the means God has given us, a supreme deter- 
mination of the Church of God to fulfill the divine 
mandate of its Lord, and to usher in the time for 
which we pray when we sing : 

" Soon may the last glad song arise 
Through all the millions of the skies ; 
That song of triumph which records 
That all the earth is now the Lord's." 
253 



Foreign Missions of the 



CHAPTER XIV 

Statistics 

The statistics of the Methodist Episcopal For- 
eign Missions which follow are taken from the 
latest Annual Report — that for 1899. The sum- 
maries of 1 . The Foreign Missionary Societies of 
the Evangelical Churches of the United States ; 
2. The Foreign Missionary Societies of Great 
Britain and Ireland ; 3. The Foreign Missionary 
Societies of Canada ; 4. A General Summary of 
Protestant Foreign Missions ; are those prepared 
by the Rev. E. E. Strong, D.D., for the Almanac 
of Missions, published by the American Board 
of Foreign Commissioners, at Boston, the use of 
which he kindly permits and which are prepared 
with great carefulness and accuracy. 

It should be borne in mind that all missions 
in Protestant countries are excluded from Dr. 
Strong's tables ; and that the amount of income 
of the Societies includes only that portion of the 
same that is used for missions outside of Prot- 
estant countries, and the sums contributed by 
the Missions are likewise restricted to missions 
in non- Protestant lands. It should also be noted 
that the statistics include the Women's Societies 

connected with the various Boards. 

254 



Protestant Churches 

The figures given in the column for self-sup- 
port in the statistics of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church include all sums contributed by the native 
Christians for church building and repairs and 
current expenses, as well as for the support of the 
ministry; whereas those given in Dr. Strong's 
tables are mostly confined to the contributions for 
pastoral support. 

All who have to do with the compilation of 
statistics realize the great difficulty of securing 
absolute accuracy. Terms employed are used in 
such different senses by different Societies, meth- 
ods of reporting are so various, the inability or 
neglect of some who furnish reports to fill up all 
the columns, thus leaving blanks where it is known 
that there must be figures which ought to be in- 
serted, putting the compiler under the necessity 
of leaving a blank, or of estimating from the best 
sources available the amount which should be 
filled in the blank — all these, and many other 
things that might be named, make the statisti- 
cian's pathway a thorny road. 

Dr. James S. Dennis is now compiling what 
will no doubt prove the most accurate summary of 
all departments of the Foreign Missionary work 
of Protestant Christendom which has ever been 
published. It will be published in the forthcom- 
ing volumes of the Ecumenical Missionary Con- 
ference, which ought to be in possession of every 
church and every pastor throughout the world. 

255 



TABLE 
Methodist Episcopal 

HEATHEN 





03 


DO 

2 

a 
o 


-3 


2c£ 


CO 

CD 


T3 
03 


"d 


CO 


c 

00 


c 
£ 

Oft 

^5 

ooC 


S 

03 
U 

o 










00 
00 

a 

60 

"<3 

u 

o 


00 

i 

O 

00 


Jot) oopCB 
^2 ! «* >> 

He cge 
5.2 ' ,2a-2 

gOO 'ffi S'o3 


S 
O 

I 

*5 
1 
52 


5 

-Hco 
OS 
03 ,G 

r 5 
5£ 

24 


o 

C oo 

25 A 


« 
C3 

03 

H 
03 

5 

3 


SB 

O 13 

£^ 
ig 

JO 




o 


CO 

g 


CO 

1-1 

03 

c 

I 
o 


1 


Africa 


24 


18 


9 


1 


7 


11 


83 




125 


2,723 


546 


3,269 


China 


54 


46 


5 


51 


156 
217 


137 


162 


76 


483 


188 


1,046 
2,377 


12,175 
32,184 


12,750 


24,825 
78,504 


India 


75 


65 


1 


76 


162 


654 


704 


35<> 


505 


46,420 


Japan 


18 


16 


1 


30 


65 


60 


28 


115 


88 


42 


333 


3,726 


2,183 


S,909 


Korea 


11 


10 




10 


31 








10 


12 


22 


556 


1,512 


2,068 


Malaysia 


11 

193 


7 
162 




4 


22 


2 


13 

864 


6 


40 


19 


80 


454 


246 


700 






Totals 


16 172 


543 


385 


912 


1,056 


766 


3,983 


51,818 


63,657 


115,469 



ROMAN CATHOLIC AND 



Bulgaria 

Italy 

Mexico 

South America. 

Totals 



1 


1 




2 4 


13 


11 


5 


12 


7 


38 


211 


26 


2 


2 




4 8 


18 


16 


29 


94 


2 


159 


1,656 


689 


11 


12 




7 30 


19 


44 


66 


30 


34 


193 


2,520 


2,631 


26 
40 


23 
38 


16 
16 


7 72 
20 114 


28 
78 


48 
109 


45 
145 


42 

178 


23 


186 


2,521 


2,058 


66 


576 


6,908 


5,404 



237 
2,345 
5,151 

4,579 



12,312 



PROTESTANT 



Denmark 












19 


2 




43 .... 


64 


3,070 


247 


3,317 


Finland 












1 


2 




12 .... 


15 


672 


250 


922 


Germany 


1 


1 






2 


117 


25 




425 ! .... 


569 


13,840 


4,375 


18,215 


Norway 












45 


— ,4 




2 .... 


51 


5,364 


655 


6,019 


Sweden 












76 


19 


148 


712 .... 


955 


15,558 


1,835 


17,393 


Switzerland 












44 


6 






124 


7,174 


1,129 


8,303 


Totals 


1 


1 






2 


302 


58 


148 


l,268l .... 


1,776 


45,678 


8,491 


54,169 



Heathen countries 193 


162 


16 


172 


543 


385 864 


912 


1,056 


766 


3,983i 51,818 


63,657 


115,469 


Roman Catholic 
























and Greek 


40 


38 


16 


20 


114 


78 109 


145 


178 


66 


576 6,908 


5,404 


12,312 


Protestant 


1 


1 






2 


302 58 


148 1,268 




1,776! 45,678 


8,491 


54,169 


Totals 


234 


201 


32 


192 


659 


765 1,031 


1,205 2,502 


832 


6,335 104,404 


77,552 


181,950 



No. 1. 

Foreign Missions, 
countries. 





8 












"2 
5 




e3 






SI 


s 




-2 









CO 




O 


aJ 




























t3 

CD 


T3 

® 




3 


Pi 

3 


3 









CO 

i 


3 




cS 


03 




s 


o 

o 








as 


O 




§ 


s 





3 


S 

2 


"3 


so 
o 
o 


a; 





3 


sf 


"3 


Oo 


CD 


3 

CO 


1 


o 


H 


H 


K 


A 


aj 


ZiO 


-" 


wx 


O 


X 


122 


161 


283 






86 


2,880 


57 


$68,955 


$ 


S 


$2,169 


2,322 


1,426 


3,748 


32 


770 ! 6,827 


14,421 


227 


155,639 


1,143 


463 22,493 


6,455 


5,338 


11,793 


103 


653, 19,489 


85,785 


227 


292,579 


1,189 


4,256, 80,353 


499 


446 


945 


25 


1,051 1,825 


8,346 


50 


53,537 


201 


271 


6,309 


354 


107 


461 




75 .... 


1,042 


15 


7,053 







648 


65 


29 


94 




1,194! 1,146 


1,246 


4 


19,100 


350 


140 


41,493 


9,817 


7,507 


17,324 


160 


3,743! 29,373 


113,720 


580 


$596,863 


$2,883 


$5,130 


$153,465 



GREEK CHURCH COUNTRIES. 



154 

92 


33 

60 

239 

580 


33: . . 1 
67 18 

393 2 ! 

672 11 


521 21 
174 710 
231 3,786 
413 1,655 


381 
1,102 
2,851' 
5,220 | 


8 
11 
39 
32 


$18,1751 

163,300 

67,795 

2&5,150 


S44 
349 
353 
630 


$57, $848 

5051 15,658 

665 1 15,180 

1,083 69,388 


253 


912 


1,165 31 


870 6,172 


9,554 


90 


$544,420 


$1,376 


$2,810 $101,074 



COUNTRIES. 



. . . . j 153 


153 




92 4,448 


22 $145,437 


$569 


$257 


$16,597 


.... 13 


13 


11 ... 




1.009 


5 32,902 


393 


339 


8,780 


2 432 


434 


25 .... 




20,318 


12Zi 925,693 


1,999 


7,837 


75,422 


6 


365 


371 


5 .... 




6,509 


47 190,830 


1,099 


771 


26,397 


1 


280 


281 


11 .... 




18,231 


122 365,241 


4,952 


2,179 


67,055 




196 


196 







18,128 


42 333,592 


2,087 


9,427 


49,869 


9 1,439 


1,448 


52| .... 


92 68,643 


365 $1,993,695 


$11,099 


$20,810 


$244,120 



9,817 


7,507 


17,324! 160 


3,743 


29,373 


113,720 


253 
9 


912 
1,439 


1,165 31 

1,448 52 


870 


6,172 

92 


9,554 
68,643 


10,079 


9,858 


19,937i 243 


4,613 


35,637 


191,917 



580] $596,863 



90; 544,420 
365 1,993,695 



$2,883 



1,376 
11,099 



$5, 130: $153,465 



2,810 101,074 
20,810: 244,120 



191,917 1,035 $3,134,978 $15,358 $28,750 $498,C 



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Index 



INDEX 



Abeel, Rev. David, 209. 
Aberdeen, Dowager Countess of, 

119. 
Abolition speeches of Mr. Knibbs, 

92. 
Africa, 103, 108, 132, 187, 233, 250. 
African Methodist Episcopal 

Church, 205. 
After meetings, Advantages of, in 

heathen lands, 67. 
Aggressive Christianity, 18. 
Ajmere, Mission press in, 124. 
Alaska, 135, 143. 
Alexandria, Missionaries in, 84. 
Algeria, 113. 

Alice, Lovedale Institution at, 118. 
Aliwal, in Cape Colony, 110. 
Allen, Rev. Young J., 197. 
Allison, Rev. James, 119. 
Allur, 161. 

Ambassadors, Christ's, 10. 
Amboyna, 144. 
American Baptist Missionary 

Union, 114, 155, 157. 
American Bible Society, 200. 
American Board, The, 146. 
American Friends, 204. 
American Wesleyans, 204. 
Amoy, Mr. Burns in, 105. 
Amoy Mission, 181. 
Anderson, Dr., resigns from the 

American Board, 150. 
Aneityum, 120. 
Anelgahat, Tablet in church at, 

120. 
Angola, Work in, 167. 
Angoniland, 120. 
Aniwa, Prosperous work in, 121. 

261 



Annual meeting, Functions of 

the, 79. 
Appenzeller, Rev. H. G., 174. 
Arabian Mission, The, 182. 
Arakan, on the Bay of Bengal, 160. 
Armenian martyrs, 154. 
Armenians of Turkey, The, 153. 
Asia, Missions to heathen in, 135, 

222. 
Assam entered, 159. 
Assam, Santhal colony in, 142. 
Associate Reformed Synod of the 

South, 205. 
Athens, Schools in, 199. 
Australia, 110, 115, 135, 140. 
Ayres, Miss H., 177. 

Baker, Moses, in West Indies, 91. 

Baldwin, Dr. S. L. and Mrs., 170. 

Baptism, Views of Judson and 
Rice on, 148. 

Baptist Churches, Meeting of, at 
Nottingham, 88. 

Baptist Missionary Society formed 
at Kettering, 89. 

Baptists, Foreign work of Ameri- 
can, 157. 

Baptists in Africa, 162. 

Baptists of Canada, 208. 

Barbadoes, 135. 

Barmen Society, The, 132, 136. 

Basle Missionary Society, 93, 129. 

Bastar country, The, 141. 

Battas, Missions to the, 136. 

Bechuanas, Mission among the, 
140. 

Bedouins, Work among the, 114. 

"Begin at Jerusalem," 11. 



Index 



Beirut, Jewish missions in, 108. 

Benevolent agencies not mission- 
ary work, 24, 28. 

Bengal, Work in, 94, 109. 

Berbers, Work among the, 114. 

Berlin Missionary Society, 131. 

Berlin Training School for Mis- 
sionaries, 129. 

Berlin Women's Verein, 141. 

Best kind of preaching, 66. 

Bethel Ship, The, 178. 

Bethlehem, Pa., Missionaries in, 
133. 

Bible distribution in Suabia, 116. 

Bible Societies in Europe, 116. 

Bible translations in Carey's time, 
91. 

Birthplace of American Missions, 
146. 

Bishop of Japan, The first, 199. 

Blodget, Dr., at Shanghai Confer- 
ence, 74. 

Blythewood, North Kaffir Mission 
at, 119. 

Board of Missions of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, 196. 

Boardman, George Dana, 159. 

Bogue, Dr. David, Address of, in 
the Evangelical Magazine, 97. 

Bombay, 95, 107, 117, 148, 152. 

Boone, J. W., Protestant Episco- 
pal Missionary Bishop, 199. 

Boresen among the Santhals, 142. 

Borneo, 95, 181. 

Bo wen, Rev. J. W., in Brazil, 195. 

Brahman converts, 107. 

Brainerd, David, 47, 184. 

Brazil, Missions to, 81, 190, 198. 

Breklum Society, The, 141. 

Bridgman, Elijah C, called to 
mission work, 48. 

British and Foreign Bible Society, 
116. 

British Colonies, Missionaries to, 
101. 



British East India Company, 148. 

British Guiana, Mission to, 99. 

Bruce, Rev. John, 119. 

Buenos Ayres, 167. 

Bulgaria, 178. 

Burden, of Church Missionary So- 
ciety, 102. 

Burma entered, 95. 

Burmese, First Baptist mission to, 
158. 

Burns, Missionary Bishop for Af- 
rica, 167. 

Burns, Rev. Wm. C, in China, 105. 

Burt, Rev. William, D.D., 179. 

Butler, Dr. William, 174, 176, 248. 

Butler, J. W., 177. 

Calabar (Kingston), College at, 92. 

Calcutta, 41, 94, 107, 117. 

Call to missionary work, 44. 

Call to the ministry, 42. 

Calvinistic Methodists, 109. 

Calvinistic Presbyterians, 109. 

Cambridge University Volunteers, 
The, 95. 

Cameroon, Africa, 129. 

Canada, 108, 110. 

Canadian Foreign Missionary 
Societies, 206. 

Canton, Mr. Burns in, 105. 

Cape Colony, 132, 136. 

Cape Maclean, 120. 

Carey, William, 87, 88, 89. 

Carrow, Rev. Goldsmith, 168. 

Carter, Dr. Thomas, 177. 

Caste giving way, 249. 

" Castle and Falcon," The, 97, 101. 

Cawnpore and Delhi, 94. 

Celebes, The, 144. 

Central America, 135. 

Central Mexico Mission Confer- 
ence, 197. 

Ceylon, Mission in, 91. 

Ceylonese, Work among the, 152. 

Chapin, Miss J. M., 169. 



262 



Index 



Chefoo, Dr. Williamson in, 124. 

Chekiang, 120. 

Children of missionaries, Homes 
in Basle for, 130. 

China, 102, 103, 108, 113, 132, 225. 

China, Favorable proclamation in, 
249. 

China Inland Mission, 125. 

China, Wesleyan Society in, 105. 

Christ, Church of, in Japan, 125. 

Christian Church, The, 35, 125, 204. 

Christian Endeavor Society, 241 . 

Christian Knowledge Society, 95. 

Christian literature, Useful, 70. 

Christianity, Aggressive, 18. 

Christianity and heathenism, 18. 

Chumic River, The, 118. 

Church Missionary Society, 101. 

Church of England in Canada, 
208. 

Church of England Zenana Mis- 
sionary Society, 102. 

Church of Scotland, Disruption 
of, 107. 

Churches and chapels for heathen 
audiences, 67. 

Chutia Nagpore Mission, The, 95. 

Clough, Rev. J. E., 161. 

Coke, Dr. Thomas, 103, 163. 

Colder, Rev. J. and Mrs., 170. 

Coligny, Admiral, 8. 

Collins, J. D., 170. 

Colombo, Station at, 91. 

Commission of Christ's ambassa- 
dors, 13, 22. 

Concert, A, for missions, 8. 

Congo Balolo Mission, The, 114. 

Congo Mission Conference, 167. 

Congo, Missions on the, 93, 143. 

Congregationalists of Canada, 207. 

Conjeveram, Medical mission at, 
117. 

Consecrated wealth, 251 . 

Constantinople, Medical mission 
in, 113. 



Constantinople, Mission to Jews 

in, 108. 
Conversions follow famine, 161. 
Copeland, Mr., 121. 
Copenhagen, The Danish mission 

at, 139. 
Copts in Egypt, The, 145. 
Correll, Rev. I. H., 173. 
Costrop, Richard, 84. 
Coultart, James, in Kingston, 92. 
Cowan, Dr. B. Stewart, 122. 
Cox, Melville B., 166. 
Cran, Mr., in India, 99. 
Crowther, of Church Missionary 

Society, 102. 
Cue, The Chinaman's, 78. 
Cumberland Presbyterian Board, 

The, 192. 
Cushman, Miss Clara, 172. 

Dalzell, Rev. J., 119. 

Danish Mission Society, The, 141. 

Darien, Scotch colony at, 106. 

Darjeeling, Work in, 108. 

Dark Continent missions, 99. 

Davison, Rev. J. E., 172. 

de Stael, Baron A., 145. 

Deccan Mission, 117. 

Decennial Missionary Conference 

in India, 42, 76. 
Delhi Mission, The, 94. 
Demarara, Mission station at, 92. 
Deming, Miss L. B., 169. 
Dempster, Rev. John, 168. 
Denmark, Mission in, 178. 
Des Granges, Mr., in India, 99. 
Dhanjibhai Naoroji, The Rev., 107. 
Disciples commissioned, 9. 
Disciples of Christ, 201. 
Discipline, Provisions of the, 79. 
Dober and Nitschmann in the 

West Indies, 83. 
Domestic and Foreign Missionary 

Society, 198. 
Doshisha at Kioto, 154. 



263 



Index 



Douglas, Bishop, in Bombay, 95. 
Douglas, Rev. Carstairs, 105. 
Downey, Rev. J. R., 175. 
Drees, Rev. C. W., 168, 177. 
Duff, Dr. Alexander, 45, 106, 119. 
Duff, The, 99. 
Dukes, O. A., 198. 
Dunkards, The, 205. 
Dutch missionary work, 81. 
Dutch New Guinea, Papua, 144. 
Dyaks, Missions to the, 136. 

Early Methodists missionaries,163. 
East Africa, 102, 115. 
East Central Africa, 119. 
East India Company, The, 85. 
East London Institute, The, 114. 
Edwards, Jonathan, Work of, 87. 
Egede, Mr. Hans, 135. 
Egypt, Jewish missions in, 108. 
Egyptian missions, 192. 
Elberfeld and Barmen, 136. 
Eliot, John, 84, 146. 
English Presbyterian Society, 105. 
Epworth League, The, 241. 
Equatorville, on the Congo, 114. 
Erasmus and Foreign Missions, 81. 
Ermelo Society, The, 144. 
Established Church of Scotland, 

107. 
European Baptist missions, 162. 
Evangelical Association, The, 204. 
Evangelical Missions, 131. 
Evangelical National Society, 

Stockholm, 143. 
EvangelicalProtestantSociety,141. 
Evangelical Society, The, 141. 
Evangelization by native agency, 

72. 
Expediency, Questions of, 12. 
Explorations in Africa, 233. 

False conceptions of missionary 

work, 24. 
False systems, 20. 



Famine in India, 161. 

Farmer convert in China, A, 109. 

Fascinations of the Orient, 30. 

Feet, Cramping of, in China, 78. 

Fell, Henry, 84. 

Fernando Po, 110. 

Fiji Islands, The, 104. 

Finland and St. Petersburg, 178. 

Finland Missionary Society, The, 
144. 

Finnish Lutherans, 144. 

Finns, Work among the, 143. 

First English woman missionary, 
84. 

First Protestant Missionary So- 
ciety, The, 84. 

Fisher, Mary, preaches to Ma- 
homet IV, 84. 

Fisk, Pliny, in the East, 153. 

Foochow Conference, 171. 

Foreign field, Methods in the, 64. 

Foreign Missions and the Refor- 
mation, 81. 

Foreign Missions of the Mora- 
vians, 132. 

Formosa, Island of, 105. 

Fotuna, John Williams in, 121. 

Fowler, Mr. Anderson, 169. 

Fox, George, 83, 113. 

Free Church of Hanover, 140. 

Free Church of Scotland, 107, 116. 

Free Methodist Church, 204. 

Freewill Baptist Society, 195. 

French in New Orleans, Mission 
to the, 166. 

French, of Church Missionary So- 
ciety, 102. 

Friendly Islands, The, 104. 

Friends' Foreign Missionary As- 
sociation, 113. 

Friends in New England, 113. 

Fuller, Andrew, ordains Carey, 88. 

Gallas, Work among the, 115, 143. 
Gardiner, Captain Allen, 111. 



264 



Index 



Geddie, John, in New Hebrides, 
120. 

General Association of Congrega- 
tional Churches, 147. 

General Conference at Shanghai, 
67. 

General Convention for Foreign 
Missions, 156. 

General Synod, The, 193. 

Generalship, Christian, 12. 

German Baptists, 205. 

German Evangelical Synod, 204. 

German Missions, 117. 

German Societies, Other, 141. 

Ghonds in India, Work among 
the, 143. 

Gibson, Rev. Otis, 170. 

Giving a Duty, 59. 

Giving, Disciplinary, 61. 

Giving, Systematic, 59. 

Glasgow Missionary Society, 117, 
118, 123. 

Gold Coast, West Africa, 129. 

Goodfellow, Rev. William, 168. 

Gordon, Hon. J. H, 119. 

Gordon, J. D., 122. 

Gordon, Rev. G. N., of Nova 
Scotia, 121. 

Gossner Missionary Society, The, 
138, 144. 

Gossner, Pastor, of Berlin, 95, 138. 

Grant, Mr. Charles, in North In- 
dia, 86. 

Grant, Mr. Richard, 169. 

Gray, Bishop, of Cape Town, 115. 

Grebos, Bassas and Veys, The, 200. 

Greece, First Protestant Episco- 
pal missionaries sent to, 198. 

Green, Mr. David, 48. 

Greenland, Mission to, 135, 141. 

Greig, Peter, 123. 

Grotius wrote for Dutch mission- 
aries, 82. 

Grundtvigt movement, The, 142. 

Guiana, 135. 



Guinness, Mr. and Mrs. H. G., 114, 

162. 
Gujerat District, 107, 109. 

Habits and customs of heathen 
peoples, 78. 

Hakka country, The, 105. 

Hall, Gordon, 147. 

Hall, Miss Emma H., 179. 

Halle, Academy of, 133. 

Hamburg, Missionary Institute 
in, 137. 

Hampton, Miss Minnie S., 173. 

Hannington, Bishop, 102. 

Hardy, Rev. R. S., of India, 72. 

Harmony, Advantages of, 80. 

Harms, Pastor Louis, 139. 

Harris, Bishop, in India, 175. 

Harris, Bishop, in Japan, 173. 

Harris, Bishop, in Mexico, 177. 

Harris, Rev. M. C, 172. 

Hart, Rev. V. C, 170. 

Hastings, Miss Mary, 177. 

Hauge, Hans Nilssen, 142. 

Hawaiians educated in Connecti- 
cut, 152. 

Ilaweis, Dr., of Aldwinkle, 97. 

Hayti, Mission in, 200. 

Heathen audiences, Control of, 67. 

Heathenism, Actual contact with, 
30. 

Heiling, Peter, 82. 

Henrik, Bishop, 144. 

Hepburn, James C, 189. 

Herero, in Damaraland, 136. 

Hermannsburg Missionary So- 
ciety, 139. 

Hernandez, Alijo, 197. 

Herrnhut, 133. 

Hickok, Rev. H., 170. 

Hislop, Rev. S. S., 117. 

Hoag, Miss Lucy, M.D., 172. 

Holland, Missionary Societies in, 
144. 

Holly, J. T., Bishop of Hayti, 200. 



265 



Index 



Hongkong, 160. 
Hongkong, Mr. Burns in, 105. 
Horton, Azariah, 184. 
Hottentots, Missions to, 135, 136. 
Howard, Dr. Lenora, 211. 
Howe, Miss Gertrude, 172. 
Hu Yong Mi, Experience of, 66. 
Humphrey, Rev. J. L., 175. 
Hunter, Rev. Robert, 117. 
Hunter, Rev. Thomas, 107. 
Huss, John, Followers of, 82, 133. 
Hyderabad, 117. 
Hymns, Missionary, 87. 

Ichang, China, Mission in, 108. 

Impolweni, 119. 

Independent Societies, 210. 

India, 85, 99, 102, 109, 113, 124, 223. 

Indians, Baptist work among, 163. 

Individual Christian, The, 38. 

Industrial development, 130. 

Industrial training at Basle, 130. 

Inhambane, on African coast, 167. 

Inscription on tablet to John 
Geddie, 121. 

Inslee, Rev.E.B., atHangchau,190. 

Ireland, Mission in, 108. 

Irish Presbyterian Foreign Mis- 
sions, 109. 

Islands, Missions in other, 239. 

Isle of France, 148. 

Italy Mission, The, 195. 

Italy, Mission to, 178. 

Jackson, Rev. Henry G., D.D., 168. 
Jaisohn, Mr. Phil, Japanese edi- 
tor, 246. 
Jamaica, 99, 115, 123. 
Jilnicke, Pastor, 131. 
Janvier, Joel T., 174. 
Japan, Church of Christ in, 125. 
Japan, Mission to, 161, 228. 
Japan, Progress in, 245. 
Java, Mission in, 144, 145. 
Jerusalem Verein, The, 141. 



Jewett, Dr., 160. 

Jews, Missions among the, 108, 

109, 222. 
Jews of Algiers, 143. 
Jeypore, 141. 
John, Rev. Griffith, 67. 
Jones, John Taylor, 160. 
Judd, Rev. C. W., 175. 
Judson, Rev. A. and Mrs., 147, 148, 

151, 155, 248. 

Kabyles, Mission to the, 114. 

Kaffir Missions, 117, 118, 135. 

Kaffraria, 124, 132. 

Kampti, Station at, 117. 

Kanagawa, Heathen temple at, 189. 

Kandy, Station at, 91. 

Karens of Burma, The, 142. 

Kei river, The, 118. 

Keith-Falconer, Hon. Ion and 
Mrs., 122. 

Kennedy, Rev. Alexander, 123. 

Khols of India, The, 138. 

Kiang-si, 126. 

Kiang-su, 126. 

Kidder, Dr. Daniel P., 42, 168. 

Kiernander invited to India by 
Lord Clive, 86. 

Kinchan, Station at, 109. 

Kintore, Dowager Countess of,122. 

Kirin, Station at, 109. 

Kiukiang, 170. 

Knibbs, Mr., Speeches of, in Eng- 
land, 92. 

Kobe, A station at, 195, 198. 

Kol converts, 95. 

Korea, 95, 173, 231. 

Krapf, Dr., 115. 

Labors of Carey, Marshman and 

Ward, 91. 
Labrador, 135. 
Lady Li, 211. 
Lagos a center, 195. 
Lake Nyassa, 115, 119. 



266 



Index 



Lambuth, Dr. J. W., 197, 198. 
Lambuth, W. R., 198. 
Lansing, Prof. J. G., 182. 
Laos country, The, 188. 
Lapps, Early missions to the, 81. 
Laws, Rev. Robert, 120. 
Lay teacher in Africa, 198. 
Lebanon Schools Society, 120. 
Leipsig Missionary Society, 139. 
Lewis, Rev. S. and Mrs., 171. 
Li Hung Chang, 211. 
Liberia Conference, 167. 
Liberia, Missions in, 129, 194. 
Liele, George, of Georgia, 91. 
Liggins, Rev. J., 199. 
" Light of Asia," The real, 19. 
Ling Ching Ting, Experience of, 

66. 
Livingstone, David, 100, 108, 115, 

119, 162. 
Lodiana, Mission in, 188. 
London Missionary Society, 97, 

101, 146. 
"Lone Star Mission," The, 161. 
Lore, Rev. Dallas D., 168. 
Lovedale Institution, The, 118. 
Loventhal's Society, 142. 
Lowrie, Rev. J. C, 188. 
Lowry, Rev. H. H., 171. 
Loyd, Miss M. De F., 177. 
Lukama, 115. 
Lumsden, Principal, 120. 
Lutheran and Reformed elements 

unite, 137. 
Lutheran Church of Denmark, 141. 
Lutheran Communion, 202. 
Lutheran standards, 131. 
Lyth, Rev. R. B., System employed 

by, 77. 

Macao, 160. 

Macintyre, Rev. John, 124. 
Mack in India with Carey, 90. 
Mackay, of Church Missionary 
Society, 102. 

267 



Mackay, Rev. George L., 207. 

Maclay, Rev. R. S., 170, 172, 174. 

Mackenzie, Bishop, 115. 

Madagascar, 96, 99, 113, 142, 236. 

Madras, 95, 107, 117. 

Magomero, Mission at, 115. 

Malabars, Mission to the, 133. 

Malays in India, The, 142^^ 

Manchuria, 109, 124, 

Maoris, Work among the, 104. 

Marathas, Missionaries to the, 
148, 152. 

Marquesas, Work begun in the, 
153. 

Marshman and Ward in India, 89. 

Marston, Miss, goes to Burma, 210. 

Martin, William and Gavin, 124. 

Martyn, Henry, 47. 

Mashonaland, 167. 

Mason, Dr., of Burma, 77. 

Mauritius, 96, 99, 102. 

Maximilian overthrown, 176. 

May meetings begin, 98. 

McAll movement, The, 162. 

Medhurst, Wm. H., of China, 100. 

Medical missions, 117, 122. 

Mennonites, 144, 145, 206. 

Mental training, 28. 

Methodist Church of Canada, 207. 

Methodist New Connexion Mis- 
sionary Society, 108. 

Methodist Protestant Church, 204. 

Methods in the foreign field, 64. 

Mexican Border Mission Confer- 
ence, 197. 

Mexico, Dr. Butler in, 176. 

Mexico Mission buildings, 177. 

Mexico, The Presbyterian Board 
in, 185. 

Millar, Publications of Rev. Rob- 
ert, 87. 

Miller, William, 208. 

Mills, Samuel J., 147. 

Ministry, Call to the, 42. 

Missionaries chosen by Calvin, 81. 



Index 



Missionaries not a separate class, 
41. 

Missionary hymns written, 87. 

Missionary Society of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, 163. 

" Missionary Society," The, 98. 

Missionary spirit a necessity, 37. 

Missionary unions in Hamburg 
and Bremen, 137. 

Missionary work, False and true 
conceptions of, 24. 

Missions in papal lands, 155. 

Missions inaugurated, 88. 

Missions, Meaning and implica- 
tions of the word, 7. 

Missions of the American Board, 
149. 

"Mistress Bland," 84. 

Mitchell, Dr. J. Murray, in Bom- 
bay, 107. 

Moffatt, Robert and Mary, 100. 

Mohammedans, Work among, 102, 
122, 220. 

Mohawks, Mission to the, 180. 

Moheecans became extinct, 85. 

Moluccas, East Indies, 144. 

Money for Missions, 61. 

Monod, Jean and Frederic, 145. 

Moravian work, 82, 132. 

Morocco, 114. 

Morrison, Dr. Robert, 99, 100. 

Moslems, Work among, 114, 153. 

Mott, Mrs. John R., 243. 

Moule, of Church Missionary So- 
ciety, 102. 

Nagpur, Mission at, 117. 

Naini Tal, 174. 

Namaqualand, 136. 

Narayan Sheshadri, Rev., 107. 

Nast, William, 178. 

Natal, 132. 

Natick, Church of red Indians at, 

85. 
National Baptist Convention, 206. 



Native preachers, Employment of, 
72, 75. 

Native preachers in Foochow Con- 
ference, 171. 

Neander, Influence of, 131. 

Nellore, 160. 

Nelson, Rev. J. H., 168. 

Nesbit and Turner in Tanna, 121. 

Netherlands, Societies in, 144. 

Neuendettelsau, The, 141. 

Neukirchner, The, 141. 

New Britain, Mission to, 104. 

New England, Propagation of the 
Gospel in, 84. 

New Hebrides, 22. 

New Hebrides, John Geddie, 120. 

New Hebrides Mission Synod, 122. 

New South Wales, 103. 

New Zealand, 102, 110, 137, 140. 

Newchang, 109. 

Newell, Samuel, 147. 

Ngan-hwuy, 126. 

Ningpo, 115, 124, 160. 

Nitschmann,Bishop David, 83,133. 

North Africa, 143. 

North African Mission, 113. 

North Arabia, 114. 

North China, 95, 108. 

North China Mission, 171. 

North German Missionary So- 
ciety, 137. 

North Kaffir Mission, 119. 

Norway, Prosperous Missions of, 
170. 

Norwegian and Swedish sailors, 
163. 

Norwegian Mission Society, 142. 

Nott, Samuel, Jr., 147. 

Nuremberg, 116. 

Nyassa, 120. 

Obedience to Christ, 21. 
Obligations of the commission, 13. 
Old Calabar, 124. 
Oncken, Johann Gerhard, 162. 



268 



Index 



One guinea a year, 98. 
Oue religion for the race, 19. 
Ongole, Work begun at, 161. 
Orange Free State, 132. 
Organization for missionary work, 

62. 
Oriental Christians, Missions 

among. 217. 
Orissa, 196. 

Other German Societies, 141. 
Other islands, Missions in, 239. 
Other Societies in Great Britain, 

128. 
Other Societies of the United 

States, 201. 
Otis, Asa, Bequest from, 151. 
Outdoor preaching, 65. 
Outlook, The, 248. 
Ovamboland, West Africa, 144. 

Pantis, Missions among the, 137. 
Papal countries, Missions in, 214. 
Papuans, Missions to the, 137. 
Paris Evangelical Society, The, 

145. 
Parker, Rev. E. W., 175. 
Parsee converts, 107. 
Parsons, Levi, in the East, 153. 
Pastor Gossner's work, 95. 
' ' Patagonian Missionary Society, ' ' 

111. 
Paterson, Rev. James, 123. 
Paton, J. G., in Aniwa, 121. 
Pearce, George, 114. 
Pennsylvania, Mission to Indians 

in, 83. 
Persian Missions, 187. 
Peterson, O. P., in Norway, 178. 
Phillips, Mr., 196. 
Piercy,Rev. George, in Canton, 105. 
Pilgrims, The, were missionaries, 

84. 
Pitts, Fountain E., 167. 
Plutschau, 85, 141. 
Poona, 117. 



Poona, Drs. Wilson and Mitchell 

in, 107. 
Portuguese-speaking people, 113. 
Portuguese stop Brazil Mission, 81 . 
Potter, Miss Phebe E., 170. 
Preaching, Best kind of, 66. 
Preaching most important, 71. 
Preaching, Outdoor, 65. 
Presbyterian Board, The, 183. 
Presbyterian Church of Canada, 

207. 
Presbyterian Church of Ireland, 

109. 
Presbyterian Church of Scotland, 

106.* 
Presbyterian General Assembly, 

148. 
Prester John's country, 84, 113. 
Primitive Methodist Missionary 

Society, 110. 
Progress, Summary of, 240. 
Propagation of the Gospel in New 

England, S4. 
Protestant countries, Missions in, 

219. 
Protestant Episcopal Missionary 

Society, 198. 
Punjab, The, opened by mission- 
aries, 107. 

Qualifications of a missionary, 51. 
Queensland, 103. 
Questions of expediency, 12. 

Rae, Rev. John, 120. 
Rajpootana, Prosperous work in, 

124. 
Ram Chandra Bose, Remarks of, 

76. 
Ramapatam, 161. 
Rangoon, Burma, Mission at, 139. 
Rankin, Miss Amelia, 185. 
Ratnapuri, Station at, 91. 
Red Indians, First church of, 85. 
Reed, Rev. Wm, 188. 



269 



Index 



Reformed Church of America, 105. 

Reformed Dutch Board of Mis- 
sions, 179. 

Reformed (German) Board, 183. 

Reformed Presbyterian Boards, 
193. 

Reid, Dr. John M., 41. 

''Relief Church," 123. 

Religious freedom in Mexico, 177. 

Revolutionary War, Effect of the, 
on Missions to Indians, 184. 

Rhenish Mission Society, 136. 

Rice, Luther, 148, 155. 

Richards, James, 147. 

Ringeltaube, Mr., in India, 99. 

Robert College, 154. 

Roberts, Bishop, 167. 

Robinson, George, in Bermuda, 84. 

Roe, Sir Thomas, Embassy of, 85. 

Roman Catholic opposition, 110, 
111. 

Ronzone, Miss, in Italy, 190. 

Ross, Rev. John, 118, 124. 

Rotterdam Societies, 144, 145. 

Rowe, Rev. Mr., in West Indies, 92. 

Royal College of Missions, 141. 

Russell, Miss E., 173. 

Russia, Missions in, 143. 

Russian edict closes missions, 99. 

Ryland, Dr., 97. 

Ryland, John, Jr., Plan drawn by, 



Salvation, Terms of, 14. 

Sanctified common sense, 58. 

Sandeman, Rev. David, 105. 

Sandwich Islands Mission begun, 
152. 

Santhals, Mission among the, 117, 
142, 196. 

Saxony, Herrnhutin, 133. 

Schleswig-Holstein Missionary So- 
ciety, 140. 

Schneider, Rev. B., D.D., 183. 

Schoonmaker, Miss Dora E., 173. 

270 



Schreuder, Bishop, 142. 

Schwartz, Christian Frederick, 86. 

Scotch Presbyterian Society, 106. 

Scott, Rev. James, 119. 

Scottish Missionary Society, 123. 

Scranton, Dr. W. B. and Mrs., 174. 

Scudder, H. M., 181. 

Scudder, Rev. J., M.D., 181. 

Scudder, William and Joseph, 181. 

Sears, Rev. Barnas, 162. 

" Secession Church," The, 123. 

Seely, Miss M., 170. 

Self-support in missions, 68, 72, 
89. 

Selwyn, Hannington, 102. 

Sepoy Rebellion, The, 174. 

Serampore Mission, 90. 

Seventh Day Adventists, 206. 

Seventh Day Baptists, 206. 

Shanghai, 108. 

Shanghai, Conference at, 67, 74. 

Sheik-Othwan, Work at, 122. 

Sheppard, Rev. W. H., 191. 

Sheshadri, Rev. N., 117. 

Shevier occupied as a station, 120. 

Skrefsrud in San thai Mission, 142. 

Siam Mission, The, 160, 188. 

Siberia, Mission to, 99. 

Sierra Leone, 99, 102, 115, 194. 

Simonton, Rev. A. G., 186. 

Slavery and missionary work, 194. 

Societies in Great Britain, 128. 

Societies of the United States, 201. 

Society for Missions to Africa 
and the East, 101. 

Society for the Propagation of 
Gospel, 93. 

Somalis and Mohammedans, 122. 

Soper, Rev. Julius, 172. 

South Africa, 95, 135. 

South America, 83, 135, 167, 186. 

South American Missionary So- 
ciety, 111. 

South Arabia, 122. 

South Seas, Missions in the, 237. 



Index 



Southern Baptist Board, 194. 
Southern Presbyterian Board, 187, 

189. 
Southern Russia, 129. 
Spa Fields Chapel, Mr. Haweis 

in, 97. 
Spanish Missions, 113, 186. 
Spaulding, Justin, 168. 
Spencer, Miss M. A., 173. 
Stanley, Henry M. s 27, 108. 
Stephen, Mr., 97. 
Stewart, John, among the Wyan- 

dots, 164. 
Stewart, Rev. J., M.D., 118. 
Stewart, Rev- James, C.E., 120. 
Stoughton, Rev. Wm., 156. 
Straits Settlements, Missions in 

the, 95. 
St. Thomas, West Indies, 133. 
Stubbs, John, 84. 
Suabia, Bibles distributed in, 116. 
Suehau, 160. 
Sumatra, 145. 
Sumbalpur, in Orissa, 196. 
Sundaese, Missions among the, 

145. 
Sunday-school, Work of the, 36. 
Sutcliff, John, minister of Olney, 

88. 
Swatow mission field, 105, 160. 
Sweden, Missions in, 178. 
Swedish Church Mission, 143. 
Swedish Missions, 143. 
Syrian and Persian Missions, 187. 
Syrian Mission, A, 113. 
Systematic giving, 59. 

Table of China Missions, 172. 
Tahiti, Missionaries sent to, 99. 
Tai-ping rebellion, The, 197. 
Talant Islands, Missions in the, 

145. 
Tamils, Work among the, 139, 

141, 181. 
Tanganyika, 120. 

271 



Tanna, a difficult field, 121. 
Tartary, Mission to, 99. 
Tasmania, Work in, 103. 
Taylor, Bishop William, 49, 167, 

169, 175. 
Taylor, Dr. Charles, 197. 
Taylor, J. Hudson, 125. 
Teaching important, 16. 
Telugus, Work among the, 95, 

140, 160. 
Temperance organization, Work 

of the, 36. 
Terry, Chaplain, Report of, 85. 
Thirty Years' War, The, 133. 
Thoburn, Bishop J. M., 175, 176. 
Tholuck, Influence of, 131. 
Thompson, George, called to 

Africa, 46. 
Thompson, Rev. W. R., 118. 
Thomson, Bishop, in China, 72. 
Thomson, John F., 168. 
Tibet, 135. 
Tientsin, 108. 
Tierra del Fuego, 111. 
Todd, Rev. E. S., 170. 
Tozer, Bishop, at Zanzibar, 115. 
Tranquebar, Mission in, 139, 141. 
Transit and Building Fund, The, 

169. 
Transvaal, The, 132. 
Trask, Dr. Sigourney, 172. 
Travancore mission station, 99. 
Triennial Convention, The, 194, 

198. 
Trinidad, Rev. A. Kennedy in, 123. 
Tripoli, 114. 
Tunis, 114. 
Turner and Nesbit in Tanna, 121. 

Uganda, 108. 

Uncivilized heathen, The, 232. 
Undenominational Mission, A, 122. 
Undenominational Societies, 210. 
Undenominational Society, The 
first, 98. 



Index 



Undenominational Society. 130. 
Unitas Fratrum, 82, 132. 
United Brethren in Christ, 203. 
United Christian College, 117. 
United Church of Christ in Japan, 

189. 
United Methodist Free Churches 

Missionary Society, 114. 
United Presbyterian Board, 191. 
United Presbyterian Church, 123. 
Universities' Mission to Central 

Africa, 115. 
Upper Bengal, Santhals in, 117. 
Utrecht Society, The, 144. 

Vanderkemp, Dr., 144. 
Vanderkemp, John, of Africa, 100. 
Van Dorsten, Miss A., 177. 
Vasa, Gustavus, mission to Lapps, 

81. 
Vellore, India, Mission in, 142. 
Verhuel, Admiral Count, 145. 
Vernon, Leroy M., 178. 
Vickery, Miss Ella, 179. 
Victoria, Missions in, 103. 
Vizagapatam mission station, 99. 
Voss, Mr., at Colombo, 99. 

Wa Nyika race, The, 115. 

Waddell, H. M., in Old Calabar, 
124. 

Walaeus, of Leyden, 82. 

Waldenstromian Movement, The, 
143. 

Warner, Miss S. M., 177. 

Wealth, Consecrated, 251. 

Welsh Calvinistic Church, For- 
eign Missions of the, 109. 

Wentworth, Dr. Erastus, 170. 

Wesley, John, preaching to the 
Indians, 103. 

Wesleyan Association, The, 114. 

Wesleyan Missionary Society, 103. 

Wesleyan Reform, 114. 



West Africa, 92, 115, 123. 

West China Mission, 171. 

West Falkland Islands, 112. 

West Indies, George Blythe in, 123. 

Wheeler, Rev. L. N., 171. 

White, Moses C, 170. 

Whitefield, George, Efforts of, 103. 

Wilberforce, Mr., in West Indies, 
92. 

Wiley, Bishop, 170, 173. 

Williams College, 146. 

Williams, John, of Erromanga,100. 

Williams, Rev. C. M., 199. 

Williamson, Dr. Alexander, 124. 

Wilson College, 117. 

Wilson, Dr. John, in Bombay, 107. 

Woman's Foreign Missionary So- 
ciety, 172. 

Woman's Union Missionary So- 
ciety, 210. 

Woman's work effective, 70. 

Women's Foreign Missionary So- 
cieties, 63. 

Wood, Rev. T. B., 168, 169. 

Woolston, Misses B. and S. H., 
170, 172. 

Work among women, 70. 

Work clearly denned, 11, 13. 

Work of the Christian Church, 
35. 

Wyandot Indians, Revival among, 
164. 

Yoruba country, The, 194. 

Young, Dr. James, 105. 

Zambesi River, Mission on the, 110. 
Zeal awakened in New York and 

Boston, 156. 
Zegenbalg, 85, 141. 
Zinzendorf, Count, 82, 133. 
Zulu Kaffirs of Natal, 119. 
Zulu, Work among the, 140, 143. 
Zululand Mission, 142. 
Zululand, Rev. J. Dalzell in, 119. 



272 



JUN 111900 



3v 

Moo 



